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Woman, baby found dead after shipwrecks off Lampedusa
A woman and an 18-month-old baby were found dead after two shipwrecks that occured overnight off the Italian island of Lampedusa.
The two victims were Ivory Coast nationals.
Their bodies had been deposited in mortuary at the island’s Cala Pisana cemetery.
Aside from the deceased, 30 people were also reportedly missing early on Sunday.
57 migrants, comprising 47 males and 10 females were rescued by the Coast Guard.
International Organization for Migration (IOM) cultural mediations spoke to the survivors who reported that two boats had sunk.
The first was said to have had 48 people on board, 45 of whom were saved with three unaccounted for.
It is said to had gone down a few hours before the Coast Guard found the survivors some 23 miles south-east of Lampedusa.
The second was carrying 42 people from Sub-Saharan African, 14 of whom were picked up. Both boats are said to have departed from Sfax in Tunisia.
The waters in the Strait of Sicily have been extremely rough, with high winds whipping up big waves.
A group of around 20 migrants remained stranded on Lampedusa’s Ponente rocks early on Sunday after the boat they were aboard sank on the night between Friday and Saturday.
The sea conditions made it impossible for Coast Guard boats to get to them and rescuers will try to reach them via land, sources said.