http://news.iafrica.com/worldnews/923007.htmlMed migrant shipwreck toll
hits 17
Tue, 13 May 2014 10:58 AM
The Italian navy on Tuesday said 17 bodies had been recovered and 206
people rescued by patrol boats and merchant ships from a migrant shipwreck
in international waters between Libya and Italy.
"There were 207 survivors rescued yesterday... Seventeen bodies have been
recovered so far," the navy said in a statement, increasing a previous toll
of 14 victims following the incident on Monday.
Italian media cited coast guards saying there were around 400 people on
board, which would mean dozens are still unaccounted for.
The navy said two warships, three coast guard and border patrol boats had
taken part in the rescue operation, along with two merchant ships - the
Vanuatu-flagged Kehoe Tide and the French ship Bourbon Arcadien.
"They reached the capsized ship as quickly as possible," the navy said,
adding that two helicopters and two planes had also taken part in the
rescue.
The navy said one of its warships, the Grecale frigate, was headed for the
port of Catania in Sicily with the survivors and the bodies of the victims
on board.
Italian media said it was expected at 11.00 GMT.
Prosecutors in Catania said they would be opening an investigation into the
causes of the shipwreck.
The navy said the other warship, the Sirio, had gone on to rescue 295
migrants from another stricken boat.
Hundreds of migrants - many of them asylum-seekers from Eritrea, Somalia
and Syria - are landing on Italy's shores on an almost daily basis and the
government has appealed for more assistance from the European Union.
The Italian navy launched a large-scale operation to rescue migrants and
deter traffickers following two shipwreck tragedies in October 2013 in
which more than 400 people drowned off Italy's shores.
AFP
Received on Tue May 13 2014 - 07:14:55 EDT