At least 60 migrants have been killed after the vessel carrying them sunk off the coast of Italy.
The Italian coast guard spotted about 30 bodies after a migrant boat broke apart in rough seas off the southern coast of Italy's mainland, state radio reported this morning.
Quoting unidentified port authorities near the coastal town of Crotone, in Calabria, the toe of the Italian peninsula, RAI said the fishing boat was carrying around 250 migrants when it ran into trouble at dawn Sunday.
Local media reported that the search for survivors continues, but around 80 have been recovered so far, according to the coastguard.
The death roll rose from 27 to 60 in a matter of hours as the coastguard scoured the waves for corpses.
Rescuers said among the fatal victims were several children. A patrol boat found two men in a state of hypothermia and the lifeless body of a child.
Another victim was a newborn baby no more than a few months old, the Coast Guard added.
The freezing corpse of one victim was found by firefighters after it washed up on a nearby beach.
Migrants from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan were packed on the flimsy boat, which couldn't withstand the rough seas.
It's likely that the choppy conditions resulted in the boat being smashed against the rocks.
Though the departure point of the boat hasn't been revealed, vessels carrying migrants to Calabria usually board in Turkey or Egypt.
Police have launched an investigation and surivors' testimonies are being collected.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed her "deep sorrow" and shared her condolences.
She called for an immediate halt to irregular sea migration to prevent similar tragedies.
"The Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, expresses her deep sorrow for the many human lives cut short by human traffickers," a statement from her office said.
"The government is committed to preventing (migrant) departures, and with them the unfolding of these tragedies, and will continue to do so, first of all by demanding maximum collaboration from (migrants') countries of departure and of origin," the statement added.
In recent months, The Mirror has spoken to a number of desperate refugees forced to make risky sea crossings to seek asylum in Europe.
Farzad, who escaped Iran fearing for his life due to religious persecution, said he doesn't know anyone who is not traumatised by the terrifying crossing.
Campaigners have warned the lack of safe routes is forcing desperate asylum seekers to make unsafe journeys. The Channel crossing has claimed at least 47 lives since 2019.
Farzad, 47, arrived in the UK in 2019 and has since been granted leave to remain in the country. He told The Mirror: "I haven't heard from anyone who hasn't been traumatised by that experience. On that boat I remember people being so afraid.
"Some people were crying, one went into a temporary coma, they were shouting for their children or their parents. It was a horrible experience.
"No one who makes that journey would do it for fun."
A few weeks earlier, Iranian Leila Eftetahi echoed Farzad's comments as she detailed her dangerous crossing from Turkey to Greece.
She watched 16 fellow travellers die when one of the boats she set off in sunk in the rough seas.
"We were on the sea for four hours. Started at 10pm and finally arrived at about 2am, which was the time when the currents changed.
"Our boat sank and then came back up, flooding it as the rain kept pounding down. My body just froze. I couldn't feel my fingers and I was completely soaked.
"Then I started to throw up because we'd been on the waves so long.
"I started crying, and when Ali asked me why, I told him: 'I know that we will die. I'm just thinking about your mother, and my mother, and they will not even know when we die because we'll be in the sea. No one will find us."
