- Title: Bodies of 13 women found after migrant boat sinks in Mediterranean
- Date: 7th October 2019
- Summary: LAMPEDUSA, ITALY (OCTOBER 7, 2019) (REUTERS) COFFINS IN TRUCK AS TRUCK BACKS AWAY FROM PORT TRUCK CARRYING COFFINS MOVING OUT OF PORT
- Embargoed: 21st October 2019 14:16
- Keywords: Mediterranean Italian coastguard rescue vessels
- Location: LAMPEDUSA, ITALY
- City: LAMPEDUSA, ITALY
- Country: Italy
- Topics: Asylum/Immigration/Refugees,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001B03MI4N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The coffins carrying the bodies of thirteen women were driven away from the port of Lampedusa on Monday (October 7) after they had been recovered from the sea when a crowded migrant boat capsized in heavy weather.
The Italian coastguard said rescue vessels had picked up 22 survivors, but they feared many other people might have died in the accident - the latest in a long line of sea disasters to hit migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean and reach Europe.
One of the survivors said she had lost her sister and eight-month-old niece in the tragedy.
The ship, which had set sail from Tunisia, had been carrying around 50 people, almost all from Tunisia and west African, the U.N. migration agency said.
The Italian coastguard received an alert late on Sunday that a boat was in difficulty. Two rescue vessels found the ship, which was already listing, just after midnight about 6 nautical miles from the coast of Lampedusa.
Italian magistrates have opened an investigation into the disaster, with a magistrate from Sicily flying to Lampedusa on Monday to lead the probe.
(Production: Vladimiro Pantaleone, Cristiano Corvino, Eleanor Biles) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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