Italy: Boat collided with a rock in the sea, more than 40 died, including newborn among the dead

More than 40 migrants have died after a boat capsized in the sea off Italy's southern Calabria region in the early hours of Sunday. Many people have been saved. There is also a child of a few months among those who died.

A ferry capsized off the southern coast of Italy , killing 43 migrants. Port officials near the coastal city of Crotone on Italy 's Calabria peninsula reported the accident in the morning when the boat crashed into the Lonial sea. More than 100 people were aboard the boat. Luca Kari, a spokesman for the firefighters engaged in rescue operations, said that about 80 passengers were found alive. Rescue work is still going on.

The dead bodies also include the body of a child of a few months. Unnamed officials of the rescue team were quoted as saying that there may have been 180 people aboard the boat. 27 people themselves swam to the shore. However, the nationality of the migrants has not been identified yet.

The ship is believed to have sailed from Turkey with people from Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan and hit rocks during rough sea weather. Italy is a main landing point for migrants trying to enter Europe by sea. The Central Mediterranean route is considered one of the most dangerous routes in the world.

According to the International Organization for Migration's Missing Migrants Project, 20,333 people have died or gone missing in the central Mediterranean since 2014. In 2022, more than 100,000 refugees reached Italy by boat. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government, which came to power in October, took tough measures against marine rescue charities, including hefty fines for breaching the solicitation requirement.

Meloni said the migrants were packed into a 20-metre (66-foot) long boat in bad weather conditions. He expressed his deep sorrow at the loss of many human lives by human traffickers.