Italian media reported that the Italian coast guard had recovered six bodies near the coast of Sicily. The bodies are believed to be among the 21 people who were missing after a shipwreck involving migrants earlier in the month.

Italian Coast Guard said that on Wednesday, seven men, all Syrian nationals, had been rescued from a semisunken boat southwest off the island of Lampedusa following a shipwreck.

Rescuers were told by the survivors that they left Libya on September 1st and that 21 out of 28 people, including three children on board, fell into the sea during rough weather.

AGI, an Italian news agency, reported that the rescuers believed the six bodies were among the 21 still missing from the shipwreck based on their coordinates.

Central Mediterranean migration routes are among the deadliest in the world. The U.N. Migration Agency (IOM) reports that more than 2,500 migrants have died or gone missing trying to cross the central Mediterranean last year and 1,116 since January.

According to the latest figures released by the Italian interior ministry, only 43,000 migrants have reached Italy in 2024 - a significant drop from previous years. (Reporting and editing by Ros Russell; edited by Gianluca Smeraro)

(source: Reuters)