Six bodies found off Sicily coast, likely victims of recent migrant shipwreck, media say

MILAN (Reuters) – Italy’s coast guard recovered six bodies off the coast of Sicily, believed to be some of the 21 missing from a migrant shipwreck earlier this month, Italian media reported on Sunday.

The Italian coast guard said on Wednesday that seven people, all male Syrian nationals, were picked up from a semi-sunken boat southwest of the island of Lampedusa after a shipwreck.

The survivors told rescuers they had set off from Libya on Sept. 1 and that 21 of the 28 people on board, including three children, had fallen into the sea in rough weather.

Italian news agency AGI reported that rescuers believe the six bodies are some of the 21 missing from the shipwreck, based on the coordinates of where they were found.

The central Mediterranean is among the world’s deadliest migration routes. According to the U.N. migration agency (IOM), more than 2,500 migrants died or went missing attempting the crossing last year, and 1,116 since the beginning of the year.

The latest figures from the Italian interior ministry recorded that just over 43,000 migrants had reached Italy so far in 2024, well down from previous years.