26 dead, 60 rescued after ship sinks off Italian coast

At least 26 people have died after a migrant boat sank off the coast of Italy. 60 people have been rescued alive. The incident took place near the island of Lampedusa on Wednesday (August 13). Authorities said many are still missing. Therefore, the search operation has been continued. However, the coast guard has expressed concern that the death toll will increase. In a statement, the Italian coast guard said that they noticed a sinking ship 14 miles from the island on Wednesday morning local time. After that, they quickly started the operation. At that time, rescue operations were carried out with 5 ships, two aircraft and a helicopter. On the other hand, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency-UNHCR, a group of 92 to 97 migrants had set off from Libya. Their goal was to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. However, the cause of the accident is not yet known. It is worth noting that 675 people have died in the Mediterranean region while trying to illegally reach Europe this year.