INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
At least 59 people died, including 12 children, when a wooden sailing boat carrying migrants to Europe crashed against rocks near the
southern Italian coast early on Sunday, authorities said.The vessel, which sailed from Turkey and was carrying people from Afghanistan, Iran
and several other countries, sank in rough sea conditions near Steccato di Cutro, a seaside resort on the eastern coast of Calabria.The
rescue charities have drawn criticism from the United Nations and others.By Sunday afternoon the provisional death toll stood at 59 but was
expected to rise, junior interior minister Wanda Ferro told reporters.Manuela Curra, a provincial government official, earlier told Reuters
that 81 people had survived the shipwreck
Twenty of them were taken to hospital, including one person in intensive care.As emergency services searched the sea and the coastline in
stormy weather, Curra said that survivors had said some 140 to 150 were on board - suggesting that some people were missing.The boat set
sail from the western Turkish port of Izmir about four days ago and was spotted about 74 km (46 miles) off the coast late on Saturday by a
plane operated by European Union border agency Frontex, Italian police said.Patrol boats were mobilised to intercept it, but severe weather
forced them to return to port, police said, adding that authorities then mobilised search units along the coastline.A baby aged only a few
months was among migrants first found washed up on the beach, according to ANSA news agency.Emergency doctor Laura De Paoli described
who were holding up a child
administration has said migrant rescue charities are encouraging migrants to make the dangerous sea journey to Italy, and sometimes work in
Catholic Church, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, called for the resumption of an EU search and rescue mission in the Mediterranean, as part of a
Migration (IOM), in the same vein, appealed on Twitter for the strengthening of rescue operations in the Mediterranean.Flavio Di Giacomo
pushing people to try the sea crossings.Earlier on Sunday, Pope Francis, the son of Italian migrants to Argentina and long a vocal advocate
Europe by sea, with many seeking to travel on to richer northern European nations
than 17,000 deaths and disappearances in the central Mediterranean since 2014
