Two shipwrecks off the Italian coast on Monday resulted in the deaths of at least 11 migrants, with 66 others still missing, Italian authorities reported. The Italian coast guard is actively conducting search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean, hours after the two migrant boats encountered severe difficulties near Italy's shores.


A merchant vessel in the vicinity responded to an SOS call and discovered a distressed wooden sailboat approximately 120 miles (193 km) off the coast of Calabria in southern Italy. The merchant ship managed to rescue 12 individuals and provided assistance until the arrival of an Italian coast guard vessel.


Tragically, one woman succumbed to severe medical conditions shortly after being rescued, as confirmed by the Coast Guard. The search for additional survivors from the wrecked sailboat is ongoing, with two Italian patrol boats and an ATR42 aircraft currently involved, and another patrol ship with medical teams expected to join the effort. As of Monday evening, no further survivors had been found.


Among the 66 feared dead are 26 minors, according to reports from local media sources. Survivors stated that the sailboat had departed from Turkey the previous week, carrying migrants and asylum seekers from Iraq, Syria, Iran, and Afghanistan.


Italian prosecutors have opened an investigation into the shipwreck, which is the latest in a series of deadly incidents involving migrants and refugees attempting to reach Europe via the Mediterranean. 


In a separate incident, a German aid group Resqship rescued 51 migrants and discovered 10 bodies on a boat in distress near the waters of Malta, close to Lampedusa, Italy's southernmost island. The survivors, primarily from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Egypt, and Syria, were ordered by the Italian Interior Ministry to dock in Lampedusa for assistance.


Migrants crossing the central Mediterranean Sea face perilous conditions and high mortality rates due to adverse weather and substandard vessels. According to the United Nations' International Organization for Migration, nearly one thousand people have died or disappeared crossing the Mediterranean this year, with 3,155 fatalities recorded in 2023.