International Desk: At least 59 people have been killed after a wooden sailing boat carrying migrants to Europe crashed with rocks near the southern Italian coast, authorities said.

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The vessel, which sailed from Turkey and was carrying people from Afghanistan, Iran and several other countries, sank in rough sea conditions near Steccato di Cutro, a seaside resort on the eastern coast of Calabria.

Manuela Curra, a provincial government official, earlier said that 81 people survived after the shipwreck. Twenty of them were taken to hospital.

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Curra also said that survivors said some 140 to 150 were on board - suggesting that some people were missing.

A baby aged only a few months was among migrants first found washed up on the beach, according to ANSA news agency.

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The Guardia di Finanza customs police said one survivor was arrested on migrant trafficking charges.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed deep sorrow for the deaths, and blamed human traffickers who profit while offering migrants "the false prospect of a safe journey".

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"The government is committed to preventing departures, and with them the unfolding of these tragedies, and will continue to do so, first of all by calling for maximum cooperation from the countries of departure and of origin," she said.

Italy is one of the main landing points for migrants trying to enter Europe by sea, with many seeking to travel on to richer northern European nations. But do to so, they must brave the world's most dangerous migration route.

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The United Nations Missing Migrants Project has registered more than 17,000 deaths and disappearances in the central Mediterranean since 2014. More than 220 have died or disappeared this year, it estimates.

Sun News/MR

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