Lampedusa, two boats of migrants sunk. At least 27 dead

"It is a tragedy that grieves me deeply and, as a municipal administration, we have made ourselves available to the authorities for whatever is needed. The shipwreck did not happen off the coast of Lampedusa, but in international waters, about 40 kilometres to the south'. Filippo Mannino, mayor of Lampedusa, told Adnkronos after the shipwreck that cost the lives of at least twenty people. Sixty survivors have already been brought to the largest of the Pelagie islands, while the search for any missing people continues unabated. According to the survivors' accounts, in fact, about twenty people are missing. "It is strange that it happened in the middle of the summer when the weather conditions are favourable to crossings," underlines the first citizen, who urges, however, to avoid "political exploitation". "In Lampedusa the phenomenon of immigration has been going on for about 30 years," he says, "and unfortunately, along with the living, we have always welcomed the dead. There have been with every government. In the face of such a tragedy I invite everyone to avoid instrumentalisation. Because the victims of the crossings have been there with governments of any political orientation'. For Mannino on the migratory phenomenon 'we must work together to find solutions that allow these people to no longer die at sea and to live freely in the lands from which they depart'. Today, on the largest of the Pelagie islands, the numbers of arrivals are 'very manageable', also thanks to the fact that 'management is no longer emergency, but there are well-tested protocols both for hotspot management and for identification and transfers, which take place very quickly'.

"Anger and frustration. This is what we feel for yet another #wreck a few miles from #Lampedusa. Our #Aurora and other NGOs if directed could have rescued people within minutes. Did anyone know about the presence of that boat?" Sea Watch writes this on X.

New migrant landings in the Balearic Islands, 194 people today

The landings of migrants on the Balearic Islands continue today at a high rate. So far today, 194 people have been intercepted, mainly in Formentera, according to the local prefecture. The bulk of these migrants were still at sea, in several small boats. Others had already disembarked.

These numbers are in addition to the landings that have taken place in recent days: yesterday a total of 305 people landed, and on Monday another 97. Last week, between Wednesday and Sunday, 94 people arrived on the archipelago. This number of landings in a few days is higher than those usually recorded in the Balearic Islands.

Yesterday, the port authority of the Balearic Islands announced that it had made some facilities available to receive newly-arrived immigrants. According to the Efe agency, a total of 4,172 people on 223 boats have arrived by sea since the beginning of the year.