According to Italian reports, the bodies of six individuals were found after a boat capsized near the island of Lampione in Italy.

It was announced that six people died and 40 others went missing after the irregular migrant boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea while attempting to cross from Africa to Europe.

Reportedly, 10 individuals on the boat were rescued. The Italian ANSA news agency stated that elements of the Italian Financial Police and the Italian Coast Guard rescued a total of 10 individuals yesterday, with 6 men and 4 women, after an irregular migrant boat capsized off the coast of Lampione Island west of Lampedusa Island. They also recovered the bodies of 6 individuals. The rescued migrants, after being taken to Lampedusa Island, stated that there were another 40 people on the boat who went missing at sea. In accordance with these statements, Italian security forces continued their search and rescue operations. The migrants reportedly departed from the city of Sfax in Tunisia on March 16 with 56 people. According to data from the Italian Ministry of Interior, the number of irregular migrants who arrived in the country through the Mediterranean from January 1 to March 18 was 8,743. This number was recorded as 8,630 in the same period last year. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 140 irregular migrants went missing in the Central Mediterranean from the beginning of the year to March 17.