Eleven dead and dozens missing in two shipwrecks off the coast of Italy

YEREVAN, JUNE 18, ARMENPRESS. At least 11 people have died and more than 60 are missing as a result of two shipwrecks off the coast of southern Italy, BBC reports citing rescuers.

German charity RESQSHIP said it picked up 51 people from a sinking, wooden boat and found 10 bodies trapped in the lower deck near the island of Lampedusa on Monday.

In a separate incident on the same day, 66 people were reported missing, with 26 of them feared to be children, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said.

The boats were carrying migrants who had set off from Libya and Turkey, UN agencies said.

Survivors of the shipwreck near Lampedusa were handed over to the Italian coastguard and taken ashore on Monday morning, while the deceased were being towed to the island, BBC adds citing RESQSHIP.

The boat had set off from Libya, and was carrying migrants from Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and Bangladesh, according to a joint statement by the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UN children's agency UNICEF.

According to the report, the other shipwreck was located about 200 km (125 miles) off the coast of Calabria in southern Italy.

One of the surviving 12 people died after disembarking, the Italian coastguard said. This ship was carrying migrants from Afghanistan. They left from Turkey eight days ago.

The Mediterranean is the deadliest known migration route in the world. More than 23,500 migrants have died or gone missing in its waters since 2014, according to UN data.