#bettica

Survivors say dozens of people fell into the sea and drowned because they could not swim.

Around 40 migrants died when an inflatable boat carrying more than 100 people sank off the coast of Italy, Save the Children quoted survivors as saying on Tuesday. “They said there were 137 people aboard an inflatable boat that deflated or exploded- it wasn’t clear- and that up to 40 of them fell overboard,” Giovanni de Benedetto of Save the Children said. The survivors arrived on Tuesday in Catania on the east coast of Sicily, on the cargo ship “Zeran” which also carried five bodies. On Monday, more than 3,000 migrants landed in southern Italian ports, including a baby girl born on board the Italian navy patrol ship Bettica. Her mother had gone into labour just before leaving Libya aboard one of four barely seaworthy boats whose occupants were rescued by the Bettica. More than 1,750 people are estimated to have died in the waters between Libya and Italy since the start of this year.