Italian authorities are facing scrutiny over their response to the tragic shipwreck near their shores, in which at least 67 people died. Local prosecutors say a lack of coordination may have contributed to the tragedy. But political anger is also growing.

Opposition leader Elly Schlein is demanding a thorough investigation to determine the timeline of the authorities' response, after the migrant boat was first seen on Saturday night.

Her request came after Matteo Piantedosi, Italy's Minister of Interior, said that the migrants should not have departed in the first place. "You shouldn't expose women and children to dangerous conditions," he insisted.

READ MORE

Where are Ukraine's refugees?

Searching for sustainability

'My heart is back home in Ukraine'

These words have caused outrage among the country's opposition parties, which called on him to resign. 

"Your declarations have transformed victims into culprits," Schlein told Piantedosi during a parliamentary session. "Who are you to judge from the height of your privileges whether one should choose between death at sea and death in one's own country?"

In addition, locals living next to the beach where the boat crashed are wondering why rescuers took so long to arrive when the boat was first spotted.

"The state knows when the migrant boats are coming and they let them arrive, but despite knowing this they didn't intervene," local resident Domenico told CGTN. "Now all those people had to die, all those children, the women."

"If I had seen them, I would have helped them," adds Francesco who lives in Botricello, a town nearby.

Meanwhile, Italy's coast guard blames the system used by the European border agency, Frontex. It says because Frontex didn't officially alert Italian rescuers, it meant their hands were tied in their response.

And while the search for the still missing migrants continues on the beaches of Calabria, protesters are hitting the streets in Rome demanding a change in Italy's approach to offshore rescue missions – and to migration as a whole. 

Subscribe to Storyboard: A weekly newsletter bringing you the best of CGTN every Friday