China News Service, August 31. According to Euronet, citing EUN News Agency, on August 30, local time, in the waters near Calabria in southern Italy, one of the two ships carrying refugees in parallel occurred suddenly. The explosion caught fire. The accident has caused at least 4 refugees to die, 2 refugees are missing, and 7 others were injured to varying degrees. As for the cause of the accident, the procuratorial organ has been involved in the investigation.
According to reports, at noon on the 30th local time, a speedboat carrying 13 refugees and a civilian boat carrying 23 refugees from the Italian Coast Guard headed to the port of Crotone in Calabria. In the process, a civilian vessel parallel to the police speedboat exploded and caught fire, causing a major casualty accident.
After the accident, the relevant authorities immediately dispatched fire-fighting helicopters and life-saving helicopters to the scene for rescue. The prosecutor said that rescuers have found four bodies in the accident area. The accident caused 2 refugees to disappear, 2 police officers and 5 refugees were injured to varying degrees, of which 2 were seriously injured. The injured have been sent to Catanzaro Hospital, the capital of Calabria, for treatment.
According to the prosecutor’s preliminary investigation, during the police’s mission of transporting refugees, a civilian vessel travelling with the police speedboat caught fire and caused an explosion. Currently, rescuers are still looking for 2 missing refugees. (Boyuan)