ROME (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Following a request for cooperation from the Maltese SAR Authority, the Italian Coast Guard vessel Dattilo – CP940 has completed operations to recover bodies at sea. Seven bodies were recovered in total — belonging to one man, five women, and one minor.
The operations were coordinated by the Maltese Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, after an Italian Coast Guard aircraft reported during the night between October 16 and 17 a capsized boat with migrants clinging to the hull. Initial rescue efforts involved a passing merchant ship and an Italian Coast Guard patrol boat, which rescued 11 people and recovered one body.
Search operations were also carried out by Maltese aircraft, the European Agency Frontex, and the Italian Guardia di Finanza. Despite continuous monitoring of the wreck by Coast Guard vessels and divers, the recovery operations took several days due to particularly adverse weather and sea conditions, which repeatedly forced the suspension of activities to ensure the safety of personnel involved.
– Photo Coast Guard press office –
(ITALPRESS)
