Rescuers have recovered two more bodies from the sea after a wooden sailing boat believed to be carrying refugees crashed into rocks off the coast of Italy’s Calabria region, taking the death toll to 62.
The bodies of many victims, including children, were recovered washed up on a tourist beach in Steccato di Cutro, while others were found at sea, after the tragedy early on Sunday.
Sixty-two people have been found dead so far, up from 59 on Sunday, provincial officials said on Monday morning. Eighty people have been rescued, of whom 20 were taken to hospital.
“Some survivors say there were 120 onboard the boat; others say 200,” said Sergio Tedesco, the commander of the local police force. “The numbers are difficult to establish, we just have to wait. Maybe when the sea is calmer it might return more bodies, even after a week.”
Remains of the boat, which is reported to have snapped in two, are strewn along the coast, as are the belongings of its passengers, including shoes, rucksacks and a child’s rubber float.
“We’re all in shock, we don’t really know what to say,” said Antonella, who was walking along the beach on Monday morning with her friend Maria. “The beach is like a cemetery. Look at the sea – it’s beautiful, but deceptive.”
A Turkish national has been detained on suspicion of human trafficking, police said. The vessel is believed to have left Turkey five days ago.
Shehbaz Sharif, the prime minister of Pakistan, said on Monday that more than two dozen Pakistanis were believed to have been among those who drowned. People from Afghanistan and Iran are also believed to have been onboard the boat. The Afghan foreign ministry did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
Italy is one of the main landing points for people trying to enter Europe by sea. The so-called central Mediterranean route is known as one of the world’s most dangerous.
On Sunday, Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, called for European governments to stop arguing and “agree on just, effective, shared measures to avoid more tragedies”.
He tweeted: “Another terrible shipwreck in the Mediterranean off the Italian coast. Dozens of people have died, many children. We mourn them and stand in solidarity with the survivors.”
The Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, said the “umpteenth tragedy in the Mediterranean shouldn’t leave anyone indifferent”. He urged the EU to “finally take concrete responsibility for governing the phenomenon of migration in order to rescue it from human traffickers”.
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said that “we must redouble our efforts” on the migration pact and plan of action on the central Mediterranean.
“Member states must step forward and find a solution. Now,” she wrote on Twitter. “The EU needs common and up-to-date rules that will allow us to face the challenges of migration.”
More than 100,000 refugees arrived in Italy by boat in 2022. The nationalist government of the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, who came to power in October, imposed tough measures against sea rescue charities, including fining them up to €50,000 (£44,000) if they flout a requirement to request a port and sail to it immediately after undertaking one rescue instead of remaining at sea to rescue people from other boats in difficulty.
Rescues in recent months have resulted in ships being granted ports in central and northern Italy, forcing them to make longer journeys and therefore reducing their time at sea saving lives. Charities had said the measure would lead to thousands of deaths.
In a statement, Meloni expressed her “deep sorrow” for the lives cut short by human traffickers while repeating her government’s commitment to “preventing departures and along with them the tragedies that unfold”.
“It is criminal to launch a boat of just 20 metres long with as many as 200 people onboard in adverse weather forecasts,” she said.
The bodies of the victims from Sunday’s wreck, among them a newborn, have been taken to a sports hall in nearby Crotone. Antonio Ceraso, the mayor of Cutro, said residents of the town would pay tribute with a minute of silence at 11am CET.
