Immigrant boat capsizes off Italy; 250 missing

April 6, 2011 at 1:18 p.m.

by The Associated Press

A man is helped out of an Italian Coastguard boat upon his arrival in Lampedusa, southern Italy, Wednesday. Italian coast guard officials were trying Wednesday to rescue migrants lost at sea after their boat capsized off the coast of Lampedusa, a tiny Italian island close to North Africa, officials said. Many were feared dead. The Coast Guard has saved 48 out of 200 believed to be aboard the rickety board, said Pietro Carosia of the Italian Coast Guard. But helicopters also have spotted corpses in the sea, Carosia said, declining to provide a number. The survivors were offered blankets, warm beverages and food as they arrived ashore Wednesday morning. Many suffered hypothermia and some were taken away by ambulance, said Carosia.
A man is helped out of an Italian Coastguard boat upon his arrival in Lampedusa, southern Italy, Wednesday. Italian coast guard officials were trying Wednesday to rescue migrants lost at sea after their boat capsized off the coast of Lampedusa, a tiny Italian island close to North Africa, officials said. Many were feared dead. The Coast Guard has saved 48 out of 200 believed to be aboard the rickety board, said Pietro Carosia of the Italian Coast Guard. But helicopters also have spotted corpses in the sea, Carosia said, declining to provide a number. The survivors were offered blankets, warm beverages and food as they arrived ashore Wednesday morning. Many suffered hypothermia and some were taken away by ambulance, said Carosia.

ROME — A boat carrying as many as 300 terrified migrants from Libya capsized in rough seas off the Italian coast early Wednesday, as rescuers, hampered by strong winds, struggled to get to them.

Survivors told The International Organization for Migration that they swam in the darkness toward approaching coast guard vessels, but many others drowned because they couldn’t swim, or were dragged down by screaming fellow passengers.

The coast guard rescued 48 people and a fishing boat picked up another three, but as many as 250 more remained unaccounted for as night fell Wednesday.

The coast guard is searching for survivors in what could be one of the worst tragedies since a wave of illegal migration from North Africa to Italy began in January, officials said.

However, Pietro Carosia of the coast guard warned that the operations, conducted by Italian helicopters, patrol boats and a Maltese plane, were still being frustrated by strong winds and rough waters.

The incident occurred about 40 miles (64.37 kilometers) off the coast of Lampedusa, an island closer to North Africa than mainland Italy.

Carosia said the boat had sailed from Libya and likely been at sea for around two days. He added that about 200 people were believed to be on board, although the IOM and survivors put the number of passengers at 300.

The IOM said the migrants and asylum seekers were from Bangladesh, Chad, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Somali and Sudan. Among them there were 5 children and 40 women, of whom only two survived.

Upon arriving in Lampedusa Wednesday morning, survivors were offered blankets, warm drinks and food. Officials who provided first aid said many were in a state of shock and suffering from hypothermia.

“One man told me he had lost his 1-year-old son,” said Simona Moscarelli of IOM. “One of the two surviving women told me how she had lost her husband.”

ANSA and LaPresse news agencies said at least 20 bodies had been seen , including those of women and children.

The coast guard said it was unclear what happened, and that the incident was being investigated.

More than 20,000 people — mostly Tunisians — have arrived from North Africa on Italy’s shores, fleeing the turmoil that has engulfed the region. Many leave from Zarzis, Djerba and Sfax, all in Tunisia, IOM said.

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