The Italian Coast Guard announced on Sunday the death of two migrants after they were rescued along with more than 30 others in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of Sicily. The Coast Guard reported receiving a distress call late Saturday from a boat sailing about 17 miles southeast of Syracuse, carrying migrants from Syria, Egypt, and Bangladesh.
The statement explained that search and rescue operations began after a patrol boat and an aircraft were sent to the area, but "the situation ended with the passengers in the water as the patrol boat approached." Although 34 people were retrieved from the water and placed on the patrol boat to be transported to Syracuse harbor, one died upon arrival and another after reaching the hospital.
The statement added that "search efforts are currently underway in the sea for a missing person who was on the boat that later sank." It clarified that an investigation is ongoing into how the migrants ended up in the water as the patrol boat was nearing. According to the International Organization for Migration, at least 384 migrants lost their lives in the first quarter of this year while trying to cross the Mediterranean to Italy and Malta.
