Around 50 Dead in New Shipwreck off Sicily
Around 50 migrants, including a dozen children, died Friday when their boat sank between Malta and Sicily, the Italian news agency Ansa reported.
The agency said 150 of the boat's passengers were rescued by a Maltese ship and another 50 by the Italian navy, a week after a similar incident off the Italian island of Lampedusa killed more than 300 refugees.
"The latest information we have is that the boat, which had around 200 immigrants aboard, overturned," a Maltese navy spokesman told Agence France Presse earlier, saying rescue boats and helicopters had been sent to the site around 130 kilometers (80 miles) north of Malta.
"The operation is in progress. The navigational conditions are difficult, with strong wind," he added.
An Italian coast guard commander confirmed the incident.
"It was a shipwreck in Maltese territorial waters. We are helping the authorities from Malta. We do not know yet if there are any deaths," Filippo Marini told AFP.
Ansa reported that bodies had been spotted around the wrecked ship, but that dozens of survivors had been rescued and placed on an Italian navy ship.
Source: Agence France Presse
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