ROME: Three bodies have been recovered near the site of a migrant shipwreck between Italy and Greece from which more than 60 people were reported missing, a spokesperson for the Italian coast guard said on Tuesday.
The migrants were on a sailing boat about 200 kilometers (124 miles) east of the Italian region of Calabria. Eleven survivors and the body of a woman were taken ashore on Monday, and aid groups said 64 people, including 26 children, were unaccounted for.
The coast guard said late on Monday it had deployed two patrol boats, one ship and a plane to search for the missing. It did not release further information about the three recovered bodies.
The migrants had set sail from Turkiye and came from Iran, Syria and Iraq, according to a joint statement from the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration and the UN children’s agency, UNICEF.
The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity said some migrants also came from Afghanistan.
Another shipwreck was reported on Monday by German sea rescue charity RESQSHIP, which picked up 51 people from a wooden boat about 90 kilometers south of the island of Lampedusa, and found 10 corpses trapped in the lower deck of the vessel.
Survivors told aid workers they had set off from the Libyan port of Zuwarah two days earlier. They said half the passengers were from Bangladesh, with others from Pakistan, Syria and Egypt.
The two shipwrecks confirmed the central Mediterranean’s reputation as one of the world’s most dangerous migration routes. According to UN data, more than 23,500 migrants have died or gone missing in its waters since 2014.
Three bodies found near migrant shipwreck off Italy
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Three bodies found near migrant shipwreck off Italy
- The migrants had set sail from Turkiye and came from Iran, Syria and Iraq
- The Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity said some migrants also came from Afghanistan
Greek police detain 313 in raid at university after mob attacked police
- Such attacks against riot police near the university campus are not uncommon
- Riot police used tear gas and stun grenades to beat back the attackers
THESSALONIKI, Greece: Authorities in Greece on Saturday detained 313 people in a raid on the university campus of the country’s second-largest city, Thessaloniki, after riot police were attacked by mobs of people hurling more than 100 Molotov cocktails.
Greek police said roving groups of people wearing hoods emerged from the campus of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in the predawn hours Saturday to attack a squad of riot police. The unit is usually deployed some distance from the campus to quell any disturbances after all-night parties that take place on university grounds.
Police said all 313 people were released without being charged.
Such attacks against riot police near the university campus are not uncommon but it’s the first time that so many people were detained after such a clash during which an unusually high number of firebombs was used.
Riot police used tear gas and stun grenades to beat back the attackers. One officer was taken to a military hospital for burns to his face and leg while a 21-year-old civilian was treated for respiratory problems, police said.
The university said in a statement that off-campus “extremists” in conjunction with some individuals from within university grounds had committed the attacks. They said an investigation is underway to determine if any students had taken part. They added that no permission had been granted for any party to take place on university grounds.
