2 migrants dead, 1 missing after boat sinks, Italy's coast guard says

A patrol boat of the Italian Coast Guard seen in the sea in Lampedusa, Italy on August 03, 2022. [Valeria Ferraro – Anadolu Agency]

Two migrants died and one was still missing after a boat carrying more than 30 people sank around 17 miles south-east of the Italian city of Syracuse, Sicily, the Italian coast guard said yesterday according to Reuters.

After receiving a distress call late on Saturday, a coast guard boat and an aircraft went to the area, rescued 34 people and took them to the port of Syracuse, the authority said in a statement.

However, one migrant died on arrival at the port and another later died in hospital. The coast guard said it was still searching for one missing person.

The migrants on board the boat were of Syrian, Egyptian and Bengali nationality.

According to UN data, more than 23,500 migrants have died or gone missing in the central Mediterranean since 2014.

Read: Seven migrants found dead off coast of Turkiye

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