The incident happened two weeks after a wreck that left 80 dead in the Calabria region. Since the beginning of 2023, approximately 18,000 migrants have reached the shores of Italy, triple the number of the previous year.
Most of the 30 migrants are missing after they took their boat in the Mediterranean on their way to Italy.
According to the Italian Coast Guard, search operations for the missing are being carried out with the help of cargo ships and two airplanes from the European Agency for border control.
In addition to the missing, authorities confirmed that 17 people were successfully rescued.
The alarm phone, a network of activists who make calls about divers who are in danger in the Central Mediterranean, announced the sinking and accused the Italian authorities of not intervening, despite announcing their presence already on Saturday night.
30 migrants are missing after leaving a new shipwreck in the Mediterranean
This new shipwreck occurred two weeks after the tragedy off the coast of Cutrone in the Calabria region, where at least 79 migrants died and for which an investigation was opened to clarify that the services of the Italian Coast Guard did not intervene.
The Mediterranean NGO Salvis Humanis criticized that “a few days after the Cutro shipwreck we found a new dramatic case of non-aid and delays in rescuing people in danger at sea” and added that “everything possible must be done immediately to recover the remains of the missing”.
The ship that had sunk today was identified between the coast of Libya and the Terror Phone explained that the Italian authorities had ordered that the cargo ships were present in the area, but they were limited to 24 hours of observation.
In the last five days, almost 4,000 migrants have reached the shores of Italy and the Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani, stated in a radio interview that “he is concerned about the situation, Europe must pay attention”.
Since the beginning of 2023, 17,592 migrants have arrived on Italian shores, triple the number at the same time last year.
