7 dead in migrant shipwreck off Italy

Seven bodies were recovered and 46 migrants were rescued after their boat capsized off the island of Lampedusa, Italy's Coast Guard said in a statement Wednesday, reported Xinhua.

A search for possible survivors is ongoing, the statement said.

The eight-meter vessel loaded with some 60 people capsized after the Coast Guard intervened to rescue those on board, according to the statement.

The Coast Guard said it intervened after receiving a distress call from a migrant on board the vessel, which was in distress "about seven nautical miles from Lampedusa, within the Italian Search and Rescue (SAR) zone."

"News of the tragic shipwreck off Lampedusa today highlights once more the urgent need for an EU-led and proactive sea patrol system to reduce loss of life at sea," tweeted Antonio Vitorino, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which is a part of the United Nations system.

"At least 700 people drowned attempting the Central Mediterranean crossing this year," Vitorino tweeted.

On June 22, Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, tweeted that "the number of illegal border crossings (into the European Union) in the first five months of 2021 reached 47,100, 47 percent more than a year ago when irregular migration dropped due to COVID."