Italy: Seven bodies recovered after Mediterranean shipwreck

Wednesday 22 October 2025 - 07:00

By: Sahili Aya

Italy: Seven bodies recovered after Mediterranean shipwreck

Italian coastguards have recovered seven bodies following the sinking of a migrant boat off the island of Lampedusa during the night of October 16–17. The vessel, which carried around thirty people, capsized in rough seas. Eleven survivors were rescued, authorities confirmed on Tuesday.

According to an official statement, an Italian coastguard aircraft spotted the overturned boat after receiving a request for cooperation from Maltese authorities. “The initial rescue operation involved a passing merchant ship and a coastguard patrol boat, allowing the rescue of eleven individuals and the recovery of one body,” officials reported.

Search operations continued for several days despite challenging weather conditions that repeatedly forced teams to suspend their efforts. Ultimately, seven bodies were recovered — those of one man, five women, and one minor.

Humanitarian organizations have denounced delays in rescue operations. The German NGO Sea-Watch stated on X (formerly Twitter) that both Italy and Malta had been informed of the vessel’s presence through Alarm Phone, a hotline that collects distress calls from migrants at sea. “They only intervened when it was already too late,” Sea-Watch claimed.

Alarm Phone had previously warned of a boat carrying about 35 people within Malta’s search and rescue zone. “Authorities failed to act, and the vessel capsized. We fear around twenty people have lost their lives,” the organization said.

This tragedy once again highlights the deadly risks faced by migrants attempting to cross the central Mediterranean — one of the world’s most dangerous migration routes.