Italy finds 6 bodies off Sicily coast: reports

Six bodies, believed to be of migrants missing from a shipwreck, were recovered off the coast of Italy on Sunday, local media reported.

The decomposed bodies were discovered near the island of Sicily, which lies off the southwestern tip of the Italian mainland.

The bodies were taken to another Italian island, Lampedusa, about 350 kilometers (217 miles) away.

The bodies are believed to have been on board a boat that sunk earlier this week in Libyan waters, Italian media said, citing officials.

On Wednesday, the Italian coastguard picked up seven people — all male Syrian nationals — from a half-sunken boat, southwest of Lampedusa.

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

"We left Sabrata, Libya, on Sunday afternoon," one of the unnamed survivors told Italian media.

Sudanese and Syrians on board capsized boat
"Onboard were all Sudanese and Syrians. The boat capsized after a day at sea ... Everyone fell into the water because the weather was bad and the sea was rough. We tried to save our companions but there was nothing we could do," the survivor said.

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

Lampedusa mayor Filippo Mannino described the discovery of the bodies as "another tragedy" in the ongoing migration crisis.

"We hoped, in the hours following the rescue of the 7 Syrians, that the coast guard patrol boats would be able to find the missing alive. But the passing of time has made us lose all hope," Mannino was cited by local media as saying.

Central Mediterranean among the world's deadliest migration routes
The central Mediterranean Sea is among the world's deadliest migration routes.

More than 2,500 migrants died or went missing attempting the crossing last year and 1,116 since the beginning of the year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

More than 43,000 migrants have reached Italy so far in 2024, well down from previous years, according to data from Italy's Interior Ministry.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — the leader of the far-right Brothers of Italy party — was elected in October 2022 on a promise to cut the number of migrants making the perilous journey from Africa to Europe by sea.