A boat, which according to some witnesses was carrying even 180 people arriving from Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, could not handle the very rough sea and crashed against the rocks a few meters from the coast of Steccato di Cutro.

As of April 16, the toll was 94 confirmed dead, in addition to an unknown number of missing. According to official reports, 34 victims are men, 26 are women and 34 are minors; of these, 21 are boys and 13 girls (31 under 14 and 3 over 14). As of March 24, 78 bodies had been transferred: 43 to Afghanistan, 11 to Germany, 14 to Bologna, 1 was buried in Crotone, 1 in Finland, 6 in Pakistan, 1 in Iran, 1 Tunisia. 11 bodies remained to be transferred, 7 of which were unidentified (4 adults and three children); among the four identified, two had not been claimed (one of which was a newborn baby), while the other two were in the process of being transferred to Palestine and Afghanistan. On April 16, six unidentified or unclaimed bodies were buried in Cutro, where the mayor had given the willingness to reserve space for a Muslim cemetery.