Craned ashore in wooden coffins for the loneliest of burials: Bodies of 12 migrants – including two pregnant women – arrive in Sicily after drowning in shipwreck while trying to cross the Mediterranean

  • 12 migrants killed on the dangerous migrant channel from Libya to Italy
  • Their bodies were plucked from the sea and taken to shore in coffins 
  • Thousands make the dangerous trip every year for a better life in Europe
  • More than 500 were rescued last week as the migrant crisis continues 

The bodies of twelve migrants including two pregnant women have been hoisted ashore in wooden boxes for a lonely burial following a shipwreck between Italy and Libya. 

Cranes were used to get the coffins onto Italian ground from a Coast Guard boat that was dispatched to help a sinking ship last week but arrived to find a horror scene. 

Twelve migrants died when an overcrowded rubber dinghy sank off Italian coast as the crisis on that stretch of water continues.

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Repatriation: Cranes were used to get the coffins onto Italian ground from a Coast Guard boat that was dispatched to help a sinking ship last week but arrived to find a horror scene

Repatriation: Cranes were used to get the coffins onto Italian ground from a Coast Guard boat that was dispatched to help a sinking ship last week but arrived to find a horror scene

On dry land: A coffin with the body of a migrant recovered from the sea is loaded off the Italian Navy ship Dattilo, at the Palermo harbor, Sicily

On dry land: A coffin with the body of a migrant recovered from the sea is loaded off the Italian Navy ship Dattilo, at the Palermo harbor, Sicily

In focus: The tragedy highlights the crisis as thousands flee northern Africa from the coast of Libya in the hope of finding a better life in Europe

In focus: The tragedy highlights the crisis as thousands flee northern Africa from the coast of Libya in the hope of finding a better life in Europe

Departed: Twelve migrants died when an overcrowded rubber dinghy sank off Italian coast as the crisis on that stretch of water continues.

Departed: Twelve migrants died when an overcrowded rubber dinghy sank off Italian coast as the crisis on that stretch of water continues.

Dangerous waters: A spokesman for the Italian Coast Guard confirmed that the corpses were found in the sea by the Coast Guard Shi Dattilo some 40 miles north of Libya

Dangerous waters: A spokesman for the Italian Coast Guard confirmed that the corpses were found in the sea by the Coast Guard Shi Dattilo some 40 miles north of Libya

A coffin, containing the body of a migrant who died, is carried off the Italian Coast Guard vessel Dattilo in the Sicilian harbour of Palermo
A migrant holds a child after disembarking from the Italian Navy ship Dattilo

Sad sight: A migrant holds a child, pictured right, after disembarking from the Italian Navy ship Dattilo, along with twelve corpses, pictured left

A spokesman for the Italian Coast Guard confirmed that the corpses were found in the sea by the Coast Guard Shi Dattilo some 40 miles north of Libya.

But the ship did manage to save 146 people from the dinghy, which was 'half submerged' when they arrived at the horrific scene on Thursday.

The same ship was involved in other rescues that very day as the situation with people from northern Africa willing to die to reach Europe reaches crisis point.

A total of 393 other migrants were saved in four different operations carried out by the Dattilo on Thursday.

Another 106 migrants were saved by two Coast Guard frigates operating off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.

No details were available on the nationalities of the victims or those rescued.

Silver lining: But the ship did manage to save 146 people from the dinghy, which was 'half submerged' when they arrived at the horrific scene on Thursday

Silver lining: But the ship did manage to save 146 people from the dinghy, which was 'half submerged' when they arrived at the horrific scene on Thursday

Saviour: The same ship was involved in other rescues that very day as the situation with people from northern Africa willing to die to reach Europe reaches crisis point

Saviour: The same ship was involved in other rescues that very day as the situation with people from northern Africa willing to die to reach Europe reaches crisis point

Influx: A total of 393 other migrants were saved in four different operations carried out by the Dattilo and were taken to shore

Influx: A total of 393 other migrants were saved in four different operations carried out by the Dattilo and were taken to shore

Tens of thousands of migrants fleeing war and hunger in Africa and the Middle East have crossed the Mediterranean to Italy and Greece this year.

The vast majority have departed from the coast of Libya which is seen by many as one of the shortest and easiest routes to a better life in Europe.

However, more than 2,000 are estimated to have drowned in the stretch of water. Many of the trips are organised by professional traffickers who take a fee and often provide sub-standard ships. 

In April, more than 900 people – including 200 women and up to 50 children – are believed to have been killed after a boat overturned in the one of the worst maritime disasters since the end of World War Two.

It was just one of a series of disasters in which hundreds of migrants have died this year alone.

Migrant crossings over the Mediterranean toward Europe have continued to mount in recent weeks, but the death toll has been dropping thanks to a renewed EU-coordinated rescue effort. 

Waiting game: The migrants can do nothing but wait Migrants after disembarking form the ship

Waiting game: The migrants can do nothing but wait Migrants after disembarking form the ship

Heavy guard: The migrants are lucky to be alive after their overcrowded rubber dinghy sank off the coast of Libya

Heavy guard: The migrants are lucky to be alive after their overcrowded rubber dinghy sank off the coast of Libya

New life: The people on the boat were hoping for a better life in Europe but still face uncertainty

New life: The people on the boat were hoping for a better life in Europe but still face uncertainty

 

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