At least 30 migrants are missing after the boat they used to leave the Libyan coast sank this Sunday in the rescue zone, which corresponds to the authorities of this North African country. The boat capsized about 177 kilometers northwest of the Libyan city of Benghazi when a merchant ship tried to rescue the migrants amid high waves. According to the Italian Coast Guard, only 17 of them could be rescued. The text stipulates that the search operation for the missing persons will continue using merchant ships and two Frontex planes, the European Border Control Agency. This new event comes just two weeks after at least 79 migrants died just over 100 meters off the coast of the Italian town of Steccato di Cutro in Calabria.
Alarm Phone, a network of activists who receive calls from barges in danger in the central Mediterranean, had denounced the shipwreck in the morning and in a tweet accused the Italian authorities of failing to intervene even though they had been briefed on the migrants at this Danger at dawn on Saturday. The organization then demanded an immediate ransom, which according to their version never happened.
“We are in a state of shock. According to various sources, dozens of people from this ship in distress have drowned,” stressed the tweet, which accused the Italian authorities of deliberately delaying the rescue “and leaving them to die”.
⚫ Siamo scioccate. Second diverse fonts, decine di persone di questa barca sono annegate. Dalle h 2.28 of March 11, the authority was not informed of the emergency and the pericolon situation. The Italian authorities did not intentionally rip us off and help, Lasciandole I will die. https://t.co/iUWFgeYmRD
—Alarm phone (@alarm_phone) March 12, 2023
In its statement this Sunday, the Italian Coast Guard stressed that the boat was in the Libyan search and rescue zone and noted how they “recognized the inaction of the other national maritime coordination and rescue centers involved in the area”. registered Libya and Malta.
The text then explained that the merchant ship Basilis L reported that it had sighted the ship, that it was drifting and that it was having difficulty rescuing her due to adverse weather conditions. The Coast Guard statement ensures that the Libyan authorities responsible for search and rescue activities in this area did not have naval assets at their disposal, for which they sought the assistance of the National Maritime Rescue Coordination Center of Rome as required by salvage conventions.
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Rome, the statement always said, immediately sent an emergency satellite alert to all ships in transit to proceed to the area where the boat, carrying at least 47 people, eventually sank.
Alarm Phone confirmed that the Italian authorities had ordered the merchant vessels present in the area to come to the rescue of the barge, but claimed that they limited themselves to observing for 24 hours, as shown in a video captured by a small Plane of another rescue NGO was picked up , Sea Guard. The shot shows the barge in great trouble due to the strong waves and the merchant ships trying to protect it from the waves but without intervening.
This new shipwreck comes shortly after the February 26 tragedy off the coast of Cutro, in Calabria, southern Italy, which left at least 79 migrants dead, many of them Afghans, Syrians and Iranians, as the old wooden fishing boat they lay in for days previously departed from Turkey, sank just over a hundred meters offshore. This event prompted the opening of an investigation into the possible responsibilities of the Italian Coast Guard, which did not intervene despite Frontex warning of the ship’s presence.
Another rescue NGO, Mediterranea Saving Humans, criticized this Sunday that “a few days after the shipwreck of the Cutro, we find ourselves before a new dramatic case of non-assistance and delay in rescuing people in danger at sea,” adding : “Everything must be done immediately to recover the missing and the survivors.”
For her part, the new secretary of the opposition Democratic Party (PD), Elly Schlein, alluded to the event during a gathering to be held in Rome this Sunday. “I got the news of a new shipwreck off the coast of Libya that would have killed more people. It appears that this ship has asked for help and has been told to contact the Libyan Coast Guard. It is a shame for Italy and for Europe, we cannot continue to reduce the Mediterranean Sea to a large open-air cemetery. That’s why I’m asking for a minute’s silence,” said Schlein.
Almost 4,000 migrants have reached the Italian coast in the last five days. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a radio interview that “the situation is worrying. Europe must be careful.” Since the beginning of 2023, 17,592 migrants have arrived on the Italian coasts, three times as many as in the same period last year (5,976).
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