Rome, Sept. 15, (dpa/GNA) – A bus carrying migrants who recently landed on the Italian island of Lampedusa collided with a lorry near Rome, news agency ANSA reported on Friday.
The two drivers, both Italian, died in the crash while 18 migrants were injured, some seriously.
The bus, operated by Sicilian authorities, had a head-on collision with the lorry near Fiano Romano, some 40 kilometres north of Rome, as it was transporting the migrants from Porto Empedocle near the Sicilian cit
Some 10,000 migrants have reached Lampedusa by boat since the beginning of the week, according to Thursday figures by the Italian Interior Ministry.
More than 5,000 migrants arrived on the island on Tuesday alone.
Lampedusa’s proximity to the Tunisian port of Sfax just 190 kilometres across the Mediterranean has made it a migration hotspot for years. The local council declared a state of emergency on Wednesday evening, but it remained unclear what effect this would have.
More migrants have reached Italy by sea so far this year than in the whole of last year.
The Italian Interior Ministry has recorded more than 125,900 people reaching the country by boat since January, compared to 65,500 last year. At this rate the record number of 181,000 set in 2016 will likely be surpassed.
GNA