ROME. Yesterday, the death toll from a shipwreck off the coast reached 64. Calabrian tickswhich he carried refugees in Italy when the Italian authorities announced the arrest of three traffickers. The discovery of another body yesterday morning on Stekato Beach prompted a fire brigade spokesman in southern Italy to warn that the death toll will rise in the coming days. In accordance with European Border Agency Frontexwhich spotted the ship on Saturday evening, more than 200 people disembarked from Izmir, although the Italian Coast Guard estimated that there were 150 people on the ship.

The vessel was spotted by a Frontex aircraft early Sunday morning 40 nautical miles off the coast of southern Italy. Two boats of the Italian coast guard, which set off from Crotona, capsized due to rough seas, the service said. At 4 am on Sunday, the boat reached 150 meters from the shore, where it hit a reef and sank. The alleged traffickers, a Turk and two Pakistanis, collected 8,000 euros from each refugee to bring them to Italy. Several non-governmental organizations sent crews to the Croton area yesterday to help the rescued. Many of them are children who saw their parents drown. By noon yesterday, the Italian Coast Guard had begun rescuing 82 people.

At the same time gathered around the prime minister Georgia Meloni The government emerged yesterday, reiterating that its only intention is to crack down on migrant trafficking networks. Speaking from Parliament yesterday, Interior Minister Matteo Piandendozzi stressed the responsibility of the immigrants themselves, and especially the parents of children, for the tragedy. “Despair should never justify such dangerous travel conditions that threaten the lives of children,” the Italian minister said. The head of the opposition in the Senate, Simone Malpezzi, accused the government of a brutal immigration policy: “During the discussion of the bill regulating the activities of NGOs, the representatives of the majority talked about mini-cruises, about immigrants coming here on vacation. Immigration must remain aloof from any ideological confrontation.”

By rallying around the prime minister, the government reaffirmed its intention to crack down on migrant smuggling networks.

In Crotone, most shops remained closed yesterday in deference to the victims of the crash, and the local government of Calabria declared February 28 a day of mourning.

Local police officer and former lifeguard Orlando Amodeo said yesterday that the tragedy could have been avoided: “It looks like a deliberate tactic. When I learn from the previous day that the ship is in danger, I must help it. Why didn’t this happen? We have all-weather boats capable of sailing more than 6 and 7 Beaufort in that night’s wind. We were doing rescue work at sea 40 or even 50 miles from Croton.” The Minister of the Interior responded to the criticism during his visit to Calabria yesterday: “This is vulgar political propaganda and an insult to men and women in military uniform who fought the waves and the cold to save people.”