Two killed in Italy as fire sweeps through migrant camp

Two people were killed after fa ire broke out at a camp housing hundreds of migrants who pick fruit and vegetables in the fields of southern Italy, officials said on Friday (March 3).

A police spokesman said authorities are still gathering information about the blaze, which tore through a makeshift camp known as the “Big Ghetto” near Foggia, in the Puglia region late on Thursday night.

Two charred bodies were recovered from the settlement, which stretches for 5,000 square metres, the fire service said on Twitter.

Italian media said the victims were believed to be Malian citizens.

Authorities had started clearing the camp on Wednesday, and police in riot gear were stationed near the charred ruins of wooden shacks on Friday.

Illegal immigrants, mainly from Africa, have been flocking to the fields of southern Italy for years to scrape a living as seasonal pickers of grapes, olives, tomatoes and oranges.