At least 59 migrants, including 12 children, have perished after their overcrowded wooden boat smashed into rocky reefs just off southern Italy on Sunday, authorities said.
- Twenty-seven bodies were found washed up on the shores of an Italian seaside resort
- Another three bodies were retrieved from the water, with fears the death toll could climb
- A spokesperson said around 40 people survived the incident
In a grim scene bodies washed ashore and lined the beach in the seaside resort of Steccato di Cutro, on the eastern coast of Calabria.
The vessel had set sail from Turkey several days ago with migrants from Afghanistan, Iran and several other countries, and crashed in stormy weather.
Eighty-one people survived, with 20 hospitalised including one person in intensive care, she said.
More than 170 migrants were estimated to have been aboard the ship, two UN agencies, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organisation for Migration, said in a joint statement that cited survivor accounts.
The survivors were mostly from Afghanistan, as well as a few from Pakistan and a couple from Somalia, she said, adding that identifying the nationalities of the dead was harder.
"Many of these migrants came from Afghanistan and Iran, fleeing conditions of great hardship," Italian President Sergio Mattarella said.
One survivor was arrested on migrant trafficking charges, the Guardia di Finanza customs police said.
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni said that the migrants were crowded into a 20-metre-long boat in "adverse weather conditions".
In a statement released by her office, she expressed "her deep sorrow for the many human lives torn away by human traffickers".
"It's inhumane to exchange the lives of men, women and children for the 'price' of a ticket paid by them in the false prospect for a safe voyage," said Ms Meloni, a far-right-wing leader whose governing allies includes the anti-migrant League party.
She vowed to use her leadership to press for crackdowns on departures arranged by human smugglers and to press fellow European Union leaders to help Italy in her quest.
A chunk of the boat, along with piles of splintered wood, littered the beach at Steccato di Cutro, part of Calabria's coastline along the Ionian sea.
Some of the survivors tried to keep warm, wrapped in what appeared to be colourful blankets or sheets.
A helicopter and motorboats were deployed in search efforts, including vessels from state firefighters, border police and the coast guard.
A Coast Guard motorboat rescued two men suffering from hypothermia and recovered the body of a boy in the rough seas, it said in a statement.
Firefighter boats, including rescue divers, recovered 28 bodies, including three pulled by a strong current far away from the wreckage.
The Italian news agency AGI said that among the bodies was that of a baby a few months old.
Pope Francis on Sunday lamented that children were among the shipwreck victims.
Pope Francis told the faithful in St. Peter's Square: "I pray for each of them, for the missing and the other migrants who survived".
The pontiff added he also was praying for the rescuers "and for those who give welcome" to the migrants.
"It's an enormous tragedy," Crotone Mayor Vincenzo Voce told RAI state TV.
"In solidarity, the city will find places in the cemetery for the dead."
Wires/ABC