6 bodies found off the coast of Sicily, Italy

Italy finds 6 bodies off Sicily coast. The decomposed bodies are believed to be migrants, whose boat capsized earlier this week in Libyan waters

Six bodies believed to be migrants missing after a boat wreck off the coast of Italy were found Sunday, local media reported. The decomposed bodies were found near the island of Sicily, off the southwestern tip of the Italian mainland.

The bodies were taken to another Italian island, Lampedusa, about 350 kilometers away. Italian media reported, citing officials, that the bodies were believed to have been on a boat that sank in Libyan waters earlier this week.

On Wednesday, the Italian coast guard rescued seven people, all Syrian men, from a half-sunken boat southwest of Lampedusa.

Survivors told rescuers that the boat had set sail from Libya on September 1 and that 21 of the 28 people on board, including three children, had fallen overboard in rough weather.

“We left Sabratha, Libya, on Sunday afternoon,” one survivor, who asked not to be named, told Italian media.

Sudanese and Syrians on board capsized boat

“There were only Sudanese and Syrians on board. After a day at sea, the boat capsized. The weather was bad and the sea was rough, so everyone fell overboard. We tried to save our comrades, but there was nothing we could do,” a survivor said in Italy.

Italian news agency AGI reported that based on location coordinates, rescuers believe the recovered bodies are some of the 21 people who were missing from the shipwreck. Lampedusa’s mayor, Filippo Mannino, said the discovery of the bodies was a “new tragedy” in the ongoing migrant crisis.

“Within hours of the rescue of the seven Syrians, we had hoped that a coast guard patrol would be able to find the missing alive. But as time passed, we lost all hope,” Mannino was quoted as saying by local media.

The Central Mediterranean is one of the world’s deadliest migrant routes The Central Mediterranean is one of the world’s deadliest migrant routes.

According to the International Organization for Migration, more than 2,500 migrants died or went missing trying to cross the Mediterranean last year, and 1,116 so far this year. According to data from the Italian Ministry of the Interior, more than 43,000 migrants are expected to arrive in Italy by 2024, a significant drop from previous years in Italy.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party, was elected in October 2022 on a platform of pledging to reduce the number of migrants making the dangerous journey from Africa to Europe by sea.