Particles was all that was left of a picket crusing boat that crashed towards rocks within the early morning hours on Sunday, close to the Italian seaside resort of Steccato di Cutro.

It had left Turkey days earlier. Witnesses say as much as 200 individuals have been on board.

However confronted with tough seas, the boat sank within the Mediterranean and no less than 62 individuals drowned in a shipwreck that has reminded the world of the worst horrors of Europe’s refugee disaster.

A minimum of 12 youngsters died, together with a months-old child and twin toddlers.

“It was a tragic scene,” Crimson Cross consultant Ignazio Mangione informed Al Jazeera.

“There was a mom searching for her youngsters and throughout the seashore was strewn with our bodies.”

Afghans, Somalis and Pakistanis have been amongst these on board.

“The loss of life toll is sadly anticipated to rise,” Mangione stated, including that those that made it have been “deeply traumatised by the expertise”.

Some survivors have been discovered clad in damp garments and on the verge of hypothermia. Others have been hardly lined, their garments torn by the pressure of the waves.

Medical doctors With out Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) stated 60 survivors have been delivered to the internet hosting centre of Isola di Capo Rizzuto, whereas 22 individuals stay in hospital.

Six youngsters have been hospitalised, together with a teenage boy who was put in intensive care.

A 16-year-old from Afghanistan, who fled together with his sister after the Taliban cracked down on girls’s rights, swam ashore carrying his sibling.

“When he reached the seashore, he realised she was useless,” Sergio Di Dato, coordinator of MSF’s response in Steccato di Cutro, stated.

“He has spoken to his family however didn’t have the braveness to inform them the reality.”

The boy is now receiving psychological assist.

A 40-year-old man whose life was underneath risk in Afghanistan survived together with his 14-year-old son, however the remainder of his household on board drowned.

“He’s guilt-ridden now,” Di Dato stated, “as a result of to avoid wasting his life he misplaced three youngsters – 11, 9 and 5 years previous – and his spouse.”

The boat left the western Turkish port of Izmir about 4 days earlier than the shipwreck. It was noticed about 74km (46 miles) off the Italian coast late on Saturday by a aircraft operated by European Union border company Frontex, Italian police stated.

Survivors spoke of a blast earlier than the shipwreck, however MSF stated the boat doubtless hit a rock as no burns have been reported among the many injured.

Police stated patrol boats and search models have been despatched out when the boat was noticed, however extreme climate compelled them to return to port.

Saving lives

The catastrophe has renewed a debate on learn how to curb migration flows to Italy and Europe and keep away from comparable tragedies.

Italy’s hard-right authorities has blamed traffickers who revenue whereas providing refugees “the false prospect of a protected journey”.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated her authorities is “dedicated to stopping departures … by calling for max cooperation from the international locations of departure and of origin”.

European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday stated that she felt “deeply saddened” by the lack of life, and that the bloc wants frequent guidelines to face the challenges related to migration.

However civil society organisations denounced official responses as hypocritical.

“The federal government’s phrases are yet one more slap on the victims’ face,” Marco Bertotto, programmes director at MSF, stated at a information convention.

Final week, Italy’s right-wing coalition authorities pushed a controversial new regulation by parliament; the rule forces refugee assist charities to carry out just one life-saving rescue mission at a time.

MSF’s rescue vessel, the Geo Barents, has been detained and fined for allegedly failing to share required data with Italian authorities. The NGO says the contested information is just launched in case of an accident and isn’t required underneath regular circumstances.

Bertotto stated the federal government’s proposed options – stopping refugee boat departures and disbanding trafficking networks – have been unrealistic.

Sunday’s shipwreck occurred on the Ionian route, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea connecting Italy to Greece and Turkey to the east. Charities don’t function rescue vessels on this stretch, however as a substitute focus operations within the Central Mediterranean route between Italy and North Africa, which is taken into account the deadliest.

Italy launched a naval and air operation dubbed Mare Nostrum in 2013 that was terminated a 12 months later with no alternative besides these put ahead by charities, which deliver to security solely a fraction of refugees.

The European Union border company Frontex has no mandate to seek for or rescue refugees at sea.

“It’s unimaginable to keep away from extra tragedies with out reinstating a [government] rescue operation,” Bertotto stated. “This incident is yet one more collateral injury of Europe’s insurance policies.”