Fifty killed in one incident as Italian authorities estimate 380 people may have drowned last week
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Up to 380 people may have drowned attempting to cross the Mediterranean last week as Cyclone Harry battered southern Italy and Malta, the Italian coastguard has said, as a shipwreck with the loss of 50 lives was confirmed by Maltese authorities.
Just one person, who was hospitalised in Malta, survived the shipwreck, which happened on Friday.
The man was at sea for 24 hours, reportedly clinging to the wreckage of the vessel, before being rescued by a merchant ship. He said he believed everyone else on the boat, which had departed from Tunisia on 20 January, had died, according to Alarm Phone, an organisation running a hotline for people in distress at sea.
