Dozens of migrants died after their boat capsized in the Strait of Sicily, with just a handful rescued, survivors reported on Wednesday, as yet another perilous attempt to cross the Mediterranean in a rickety, unsuitable vessel ended in disaster.
Four people, including a child, were saved, according to Flavio di Giacomo, a spokesman with the International Organization for Migration, a United Nations agency, citing the survivors’ own testimony.
The migrants were from Guinea and the Ivory Coast, he added, and they had departed from the Tunisian city of Sfax before being spotted and rescued by a commercial boat.
They arrived on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, south of Sicily on Wednesday.
Survivors told the U.N. migration agency that 41 had drowned out of a total of 45 onboard.
Persons:
Flavio di Giacomo, Giacomo
Organizations:
International Organization for Migration, United, Migrants
Locations:
Strait, Sicily, United Nations, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Tunisian, Sfax, Lampedusa, Tunisia, Saharan Africa, Europe