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Six refugees found dead off Italy
OTRANTO, Italy -- Six illegal immigrants have drowned in rough seas off the southern Italian coast, officials said. Two Italian navy helicopters plucked 22 immigrants to safety from stormy seas on Monday after the rubber dinghy they were travelling in was spotted having difficulty. A coastguard spokesman in the southern port of Otranto told Reuters: "There are six bodies tied to the rubber dinghy which we are trying to recover." All the illegal immigrants, including three women and three children, were believed to be Albanians heading to Italy in search of a better life, the news agency reported. Waves were reported to be up to three metres (up to 10 feet) high off the southern tip of Puglia, the "heel" of the boot-shaped peninsula. 50 feared deadMeanwhile, the Italian navy continued to search for the bodies of immigrants tossed into the sea on Thursday when their boat capsized in rough waters off the island of Lampedusa, situated between Italy and Tunisia. It is not known how many immigrants were aboard the boat. In the first hours after the accident, 11 people were rescued and 12 bodies were retrieved. Authorities have ruled out any hope of finding survivors. Maritime authorities fear as many as 50 people, believed to be North Africans, died in the tragedy. Magistrates have opened an investigation into whether the navy could have responded more quickly to distress calls and saved more lives. Italy is one of the European Union's most enticing arrival points for streams of migrants, most of them from Albania, Turkey, North Africa and Asia. Thousands arrive by sea on rusting ships that run aground and high-powered speedboats which race across the Adriatic Sea from Albania. In a bid to stem the flow, the Italian government aims to strengthen anti-immigration laws and give the navy greater powers to police Italy's massive coastline. |
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