Italian authorities found another body at sea off Cutro, in the Calabria region, on Tuesday (2/28), bringing to 64 the confirmed number of victims of a shipwreck that occurred last Sunday (2/26).

According to official information, it is a man who was at the time of the Steccato beach, where the incident took place.

The exact number of people on board the boat is still unknown, but it is estimated that there were between 180 and 250 migrants from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. In this way, it is possible that 100 people are still missing, since 80 were saved alive.

The City of Cutro has confirmed that helicopter flights in an attempt to further individualize bodies and dives by specialist teams have resumed this Tuesday morning and will be maintained “as long as weather permits”.

Local authorities also opened the public vigil for the victims of the sinking, which will take place in a sports stadium in Crotone, capital of the province where Cutro is located.

So far, three people have been arrested for allegedly being the smugglers responsible for the ship. They were rescued at sea the day of the tragedy and arrested while receiving treatment in a reception center for asylum seekers.

The Cutro shipwreck is one of the largest on record in Italy since October 2013, when 360 people died in an incident off the island of Lampedusa.

This time, the ship had departed from the Turkish coast, on a route through the central Mediterranean which is not monitored by humanitarian aid NGOs and which was no longer frequently used. Most ships arriving or attempting to arrive in Italy depart from Libya and Lebanon.

But, according to a report also presented this Tuesday to the Italian Parliament by the country’s intelligence services, there has been an “increase in migratory flows” leaving Turkish ports towards the coasts of Calabria, Puglia and Sicily in recent years. month. These groups would be trafficked by “Kurdish and Pakistani organizations” operating in Turkey.

According to United Nations data, more than 26,000 people have died making the dangerous crossing of the central Mediterranean since 2013, and this number is underestimated since it only takes into account disappearances reported by someone or the bodies found.