Migrant shipwreck in southern Italy kills 45, including children

Forty-five people died, including some children, when a wooden sailing boat carrying migrants crashed against rocks on the southern Italian coast early on Sunday, authorities said, Report informs via Reuters.

The vessel had set sail from Türkiye several days ago with migrants from Afghanistan, Iran and several other countries, and crashed in stormy weather near Steccato di Cutro, a seaside resort on the eastern coast of Calabria.

The provisional death toll stood at 45, Manuela Curra, a provincial government official, told Reuters. Eighty-one people survived, with 22 of them taken to hospital, she said.

One survivor was arrested on migrant trafficking charges, the Guardia di Finanza customs police said.

Cutro's mayor, Antonio Ceraso, said women and children were among the dead. Exact numbers for how many children had died were not yet available.

Curra said the vessel left Izmir in eastern Türkiye three or four days ago, adding that survivors had said some 140 to 150 were on board.