At least 11 people died and 64 are missing after 2 ships sink off the coast of southern Italy
Rome (AP): Sixty-four people were missing at sea after a shipwreck off the Italian southern coast on Monday, while 11 were rescued and taken ashore to a Calabrian town, United Nations agencies said in a statement.
In a separate shipwreck, rescue workers found 10 bodies of suspected migrants trapped below the deck of a wooden boat off Italy's tiny Lampedusa island, the German aid group Resqship wrote on Monday on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
In the first shipwreck, which took place about 200 kilometres off Calabria, a boat that had set off from Turkiye eight days earlier caught fire and overturned, the UN agencies said, citing survivors.
The search-and-rescue operation started following a Mayday call by a French boat, the Italian Coast Guard said in a statement. The boat was sailing in a border area where Greece and Italy carry out search-and-rescue operations. Survivors and people still missing at sea came from Iran, Syria and Iraq, the UN agencies said.
The Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre immediately diverted two merchant vessels sailing nearby to the scene of the rescue. Assets from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency Frontex also helped.
The survivors were brought to the Calabrian port of Roccella Jonica, where they were disembarked and entrusted to the care of medical personnel. One of the migrants died soon after, the coast guard said.
In the second shipwreck, the crew aboard Resqship's boat, the Nadir, found 61 people on the wooden boat, which was full of water.
"Our crew was able to evacuate 51 people, two of whom were unconscious,” it added. “The 10 dead were in the flooded lower deck of the boat.”
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11-year-old dies by suicide after sexual assault in Bareilly; accused arrested
Bareilly (UP) (PTI): A 26-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl, who later died by suicide due to trauma, police said on Wednesday.
The post-mortem report confirmed sexual assault and multiple injuries on the minor's body, including bite marks and nail scratches. The cause of death was found to be hanging, they said.
According to ASP (South) Anshika Verma, the incident came to light on 27 April, when the girl, a Class 8 student, was found hanging at her home in Deoria Abdullaganj village under the Mirganj police station area. Initially, the family reported the death as suicide and was reluctant to pursue police action.
"The autopsy report changed the course of the investigation. It confirmed sexual assault and noted severe physical trauma. The cause of death was confirmed as hanging," Verma said.
A breakthrough in the case came from the statement of the victim's younger sister, who told police that the accused, Zeeshan (26), a resident of the same village, frequently loitered near the minor's school and allegedly gave her small sums of money to keep his interactions with her a secret, she said.
Police said that on the day of the incident, the accused allegedly lured the minor and assaulted her. Distressed by the incident, the child later took her own life while her mother was away, police said.
"Based on technical surveillance, CCTV footage, and statements from the family, we established Zeeshan's involvement. He was arrested near the Mirganj weekly market on Tuesday," they said.
