Italian officials on trial over deadly 2023 migrant shipwreck

Six members of the Italian police and coastguard went on trial on Friday over a 2023 shipwreck in which at least 94 migrants died.

Thirty-five children were among those killed when the boat crashed on the rocks off the coast of the tourist town of Steccato di Cutro in February of that year.

The defendants are accused of involuntary manslaughter for failing to launch rescue operations which could have prevented the shipwreck , despite being aware of the boats presence for hours.

All six said they plan to testify.

The overcrowded boat had set sail from Turkey carrying people from Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, and Pakistan.

Dozens of bodies and the wreckage of the boat later washed up along the beach, in what was the worst disaster off the Calabria coast in a decade.

Around 80 people survived but officials say many more may have died.

The accident set off fierce criticism of Italy’s far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s tough stance on migrants arriving by boat.