Boat overturns: 5 dead on Marinella di Selinunte beach, 40 may be missing at sea.

Last Updated: October 28, 2023

Five people have died in the shipwreck of a migrant boat that ran aground on the morning of Saturday, October 28th, on the beach of Marinella di Selinunte, a seaside village in Castelvetrano. The boat was used by dozens of migrants for crossing. The confirmation came from the coast guard. The five bodies were carried onto the beach by the currents. Search and rescue operations are currently underway in the waters where the bodies were found, with the coast guard and finance police involved. On land, 18 migrants have been stopped while attempting to flee. According to initial testimonies, there were around sixty people on board. Approximately forty are missing, but this is just an estimate. The boat got stranded near the Belice river. The alarm was raised by the owner of a restaurant who was called by a Tunisian migrant, who had walked almost 2 km to reach the restaurant. The survivor told the owner that they had departed from Tunisia three days ago, and there were women and children on board as well. Before reaching the coast, the boat nearly capsized and some migrants fell into the water. The survivor claims to have seen 15 bodies floating in the sea upon reaching land. The survivor was later rescued by the police.