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UN Says Hundreds May Be Missing After Central Mediterranean Shipwrecks

IOM investigators cite storm-hit rescues, urging action against criminal smuggling networks.

Overview

  • The UN migration agency reports multiple wrecks over the past 10 days with hundreds feared missing or dead as verification continues.
  • IOM says three shipwrecks were reported on January 23 and 25 with a preliminary estimate of at least 104 feared dead.
  • Italian authorities confirmed three deaths in Lampedusa, including one-year-old twin girls and a man who died of hypothermia.
  • IOM is probing reports of nine boats that left Tunisia between January 14 and 21 carrying about 380 people that have not been accounted for.
  • Severe weather linked to Cyclone Harry disrupted search-and-rescue operations, and the agency notes the Central Mediterranean remains the deadliest migration route with 1,340 deaths last year and over 33,000 since 2014.