Separately, one-year-old twin girls from Guinea are presumed to have died off the coast of Lampedusa after a boat they were travelling on was battered by Cyclone Harry. Photograph: Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via GettyUp to 380 people may have drowned attempting to cross the Mediterranean last week as Cyclone Harry battered southern Italy and Malta, the Italian coastguard has said, as a shipwreck with the loss of 50 lives was confirmed by Maltese authorities. Italy’s coastguard estimates that 380 others who set sail from Tunisia during the cyclone, which generated huge waves in the Mediterranean, might also have drowned. Despite the hardline measures, people still attempt the high-risk journey from North Africa in search of refuge in Europe. Italy is one of the main landing points, with the central Mediterranean route considered one of the world’s most dangerous.

Source: The Irish Times January 26, 2026 19:00 UTC