PANA
Tripoli, Libya – At least 82 persons, mainly Somali migrants including women and children, were reported dead when the boat they were sailing on sank Thursday off Italy, quoting the Vatican Radio.
The radio said 150 other passengers survived the shipwreck.
The migrants were on their way to the Italian island of Lampedusa,
The radio quoted Lampedusa Mayor, Mrs Josee Nicolini, as saying: “the situation is terrible. We continue to discover bodies of victims.”
It quoted local authorities as saying that a technical problems caused the boat to capsize.
The Lampedusa Island, located between Tunisia and Sicilia (Italy), is the main corridor for illegal immigrants heading for Europe.
