At Least 6 Dead After Migrants’ Boat Founders

Six illegal immigrants were believed to have drowned and five more were missing off Italy’s southeastern coast, just days after dozens of foreigners died in another boating tragedy.

Coast guard officials said helicopters plucked 22 people to safety from stormy seas just before dawn after the rubber dinghy they were traveling in encountered difficulty near the Italian coast.

“There are six bodies tied to the rubber dinghy which we are trying to recover,” a coast guard spokesman said in the port of Otranto. In addition, survivors said up to five others had fallen into the sea and were missing.

The latest migrants were believed to be Albanians heading to Italy in search of a better life.