Six dead, 40 missing after migrant ship wrecks off Italian coast

Six people died, and 40 others went missing after a migrant boat sank in the Mediterranean, the United Nations said on Wednesday, reported AFP. The Italian media reported that the vessel went down near the island of Lampedusa.
UNHCR's Italy representative Chiara Cardoletti wrote on X, "Still too many dead in a new shipwreck in the Mediterranean,", adding that the inflatable dinghy had left Tunisia on Monday carrying 56 people.
"After a few hours of sailing, the dinghy began to deflate and take on water. Six bodies (were) recovered. 40 missing," she further said.
According to Italian media reports, Italy's coastguard and financial police rescued 10 people—six men and four women—near the small rocky islet of Lampione. The rescued migrants said that the boat initially carried 56 people, but only six bodies—all male—were recovered.
Survivors also told AGI news agency that some of the missing passengers were swept overboard by rough seas. The migrants were from the Ivory Coast, Mali, Gambia and Cameroon.
After the rescue operation, a separate group of 40 migrants arrived in Lampedusa on metal boats from Sfax, Tunisia, according to the ANSA news agency.
On Tuesday, five separate migrant landings took place in Lampedusa, with a total of 213 arrivals. This brought the number of people in the island’s reception centre to 230, according to reports.
According to Italy's interior ministry, around 8,743 migrants have arrived in Italy this year, slightly exceeding the number recorded during the same period last year.