According to Italian media, 10 individuals have been rescued while the search for more survivors continues.
Chiara Cardoletti, a representative of the UNHCR, stated on Wednesday that the inflatable dinghy had departed from Tunisia on Monday with 56 people on board, emphasizing the ongoing tragedy in the Mediterranean with “still too many dead in a new shipwreck.”
Italian coastguard vessels have managed to rescue 10 individuals and are continuing the search for other survivors, as reported by Italy’s news agency ANSA. The incident occurred near the island of Lampedusa.
Survivors have reported that some of the missing individuals were swept overboard by rough seas, according to AGI news agency, noting that the passengers on the boat were from Ivory Coast, Mali, The Gambia, and Cameroon.
News reports have also indicated that a separate group of 40 individuals successfully landed on Lampedusa after traveling from Sfax, Tunisia, on metal boats.
There were a total of five landings in Lampedusa on Tuesday, bringing the total number of new arrivals to 213, which has increased the population at the island’s reception center to 230, as per the reports.
So far this year, Italy has seen the arrival of approximately 8,743 individuals, a number that is slightly higher than the arrivals during the same period last year, according to Italy’s Ministry of the Interior.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), a UN-related organization, has stated that since 2014, more than 31,500 individuals have either died or gone missing in the Mediterranean. This year alone, the figure stands at 246.
