He said that it was "to the seriousness of the criminal conduct of the boatmen I referred when, with emotion, outrage and anger and, in my eyes, the heartbreaking image of all those innocent victims, I appealed that people's lives should no longer end up in the hands of vile criminals, in no way wanting to blame the victims.
Piantedosi said he deeply regrets that the meaning of his words has been 'misinterpreted'.
"The sensitivity and principles of human solidarity that have inspired my personal life, have been the beacon, in the more than 30 years I have served the institutions and citizens, of my every action and decision."
The centre-left opposition has called for Piantedosi to resign over his statement on desperation not justifying putting migrant kids at risk.
They have also called on him to quit because of the alleged mishandling of the wreck.
Newly-elected Democratic party (PD) leader Elly Schlein said Piantedosi had again wasted an opportunity to explain the immediate response, in the lead-up to and during the tragedy, that resulted in the death of at least 72 people off Calabria, after the minister reported to parliament on the incident on Tuesday.
"Today is a wasted opportunity to answer precise questions, like who decided that the tax police should intervene instead of the coast guard?" Schlein, who was elected PD leader nine days ago, said.
PD powerbroker Giuseppe Porvenzano said the government should take responsibility for the tragedy, quoting the commander of the Crotone Coast Guard as saying "in the end, those lives could have been saved".
"The government must be investigated for culpable slaughter, as Meloni also said on April 14, 2015, after the shipwreck off Lampedusa", Provenzano said, referring to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's call eight years ago regarding ex-PD leader Matteo Renzi's then government and a previous migrant disaster in which almost 700 people died.
Provenzano added "back then the shipwreck happened 200 miles off the coast, this one 200 metres away".
ANSA
