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Migrant Boat Flips Off Italy, 7 Dead

Senegalese men walk off the "Vincenzo Padre" fishing boat where they work as fishermen, in the Island of Lampedusa, southern Italy, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)
Senegalese men walk off the "Vincenzo Padre" fishing boat where they work as fishermen, in the Island of Lampedusa, southern Italy, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)
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Migrant Boat Flips Off Italy, 7 Dead

Senegalese men walk off the "Vincenzo Padre" fishing boat where they work as fishermen, in the Island of Lampedusa, southern Italy, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)
Senegalese men walk off the "Vincenzo Padre" fishing boat where they work as fishermen, in the Island of Lampedusa, southern Italy, Thursday, May 13, 2021. (AP Photo/Salvatore Cavalli)

A migrant boat overturned Wednesday off the Sicilian island of Lampedusa just as rescue crews were arriving, and seven bodies were pulled from the sea, authorities said.

Another 46 people were rescued and the search is continuing for any others. An estimated 60 people were packed onto the 8-meter (25-foot) boat, The Associated Press quoted Italy's coast guard as saying in a statement.

Two coast guard ships had responded to a distress call from a migrant boat 7 miles off Lampedusa. As the rescuers neared, the passengers “suddenly shifted” their positions, likely causing the boat to flip, the statement said.

Lampedusa, which is closer to Africa than to the Italian mainland, is one of the main destinations of Libyan-based human traffickers.

Nearly 20,000 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year, three times as many as this time last year and nearly 10 times as many as in 2019, according to Interior Ministry statistics.

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North Korea Blames South's Military for Drone Intrusion

FILE - North Korean balloons are seen from the Unification Observation Post in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
FILE - North Korean balloons are seen from the Unification Observation Post in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
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North Korea Blames South's Military for Drone Intrusion

FILE - North Korean balloons are seen from the Unification Observation Post in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
FILE - North Korean balloons are seen from the Unification Observation Post in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)

North Korea's defense ministry blamed South Korea's military for sending drones into its territory for political purposes, calling it an infringement upon the country's sovereignty, state media KCNA said on Monday.
The ministry announced final results of its investigation after claiming that South Korean drones flew over Pyongyang at least three times this month to distribute anti-North leaflets. KCNA has also published photos of what it described as a crashed South Korean military drone, Reuters said.
During an analysis of the drone's flight control program, North Korean authorities said they uncovered more than 230 flight plans and flight logs since June 2023, including a plan to scatter "political motivational rubbish."
An Oct. 8 record showed that the drone had departed the South's border island of Baengnyeongdo late at night and released leaflets over the foreign and defense ministry buildings in Pyongyang a few hours later.
Seoul's defense ministry did not immediately have comment but has said Pyongyang's unilateral claims were "not worth verifying or a response."
A North Korean spokesperson warned that the country would respond with "merciless offensive" if such a case recurs, KCNA said.
Tensions between the Koreas have rekindled since the North began flying balloons carrying trash into the South in late May, prompting the South to restart loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts.
Seoul and Washington have said North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia for possible deployment in Ukraine, which could mean a significant escalation in their conflict. Pyongyang said on Friday that any move to send its troops to support Russia would be in line with international law.