11 irregular migrants die, 50 go missing in 2 separate shipwrecks in central Mediterranean

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – At least 11 irregular migrants were killed and another 50 went missing in two separate shipwreck incidents in the central Mediterranean Sea, one of their most active routes to Europe, the Italian media said on Monday.

The first incident occurred about 100 miles (161 kilometers) off the coast of the southern Italian province of Calabria, when a boat carrying 63 irregular migrants capsized, the state-run ANSA news agency reported.

A merchant ship rescued the boat and later transferred the 12 surviving irregular migrants, as well as the body of a woman, to shore, it added.

In the second incident, which occurred off the Italian island of Lampedusa, the ship Nadir, operated by the German migrant rescue NGO RESQSHIP, 51 irregular migrants were rescued and the bodies of 10 others from the flooded lower deck retrieved, according to the news agency.