Migrant boat tragedy: police arrest three as death toll rises to 64
Survivors point to Turkish man and two Pakistanis as the ‘main culprits’
28 February 2023 - 17:56
byAngelo Amante and Remo Casilli
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A coast guard boat carrying bodies arrives at port in the aftermath of the disastrous migrant shipwreck, in Le Castella, Italy, on Monday. Picture: REMO CASILLI/REUTERS
Italy has arrested three people who they suspect trafficked up to 200 migrants aboard a wooden boat that broke up on rocks off southern Italy on Sunday, killing at least 64 people, police said on Tuesday.
Lt Col Alberto Lippolis said a Turkish man and two Pakistani citizens sailed the boat from Turkey to Italy despite terrible weather. Survivors identified them as “the main culprits of the tragedy”.
“According to initial investigations, they allegedly asked the migrants for about €8,000 each for the fatal journey,” said Lippolis, commander of a finance police team in the region of Calabria. “All three have been arrested.”
One Pakistani was a minor, a judicial source said, and police were looking for a fourth suspect, who is Turkish.
The boat hit rocks and broke up early on Sunday in heavy seas near the town of Steccato di Cutro on the toe of Italy.
Rescuers pulled a dead man from the sea on Tuesday, bringing the number of bodies retrieved so far to 64, including about 14 children. There were 80 survivors, who said that the boat was carrying 150 to 200 migrants.
“We will carry on searching ... the sea until we are certain that we have found everyone,” said Rocco Mortato, a member of the underwater diving team of the fire brigade.
The boat set sail from the port of Izmir in western Turkey towards the end of last week. Rescuers said most of the migrants came from Afghanistan, with others from Pakistan, Iran, Somalia and Syria.
‘Traumatised’
Teams from the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) charity were providing psychological support to the survivors.
“They are heavily traumatised. Everyone has lost someone,” said Mara Eliana Tunno, an MSF psychologist.
One 12-year-old boy lost his whole family. A 16-year-old Afghan boy lost his sister. “He didn’t have the courage to tell his parents,” Tunno said.
The tragedy has fuelled a debate on migration in Europe and Italy, where the recently elected right-wing government’s tough new laws for migrant rescue charities have drawn criticism from the UN and others.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in an interview on Monday that she had written to EU institutions calling for immediate action by the bloc to stop migrant boat trips so as to avert more deaths.
“The more people depart, the more risk dying,” she said on RAI public television. “The only way to tackle this issue seriously, with humanity, is to stop the departures.”
Hundreds of thousands of migrants have reached Italy by boat over the past decade, fleeing conflict and poverty back home.
The UN Missing Migrants Project registered more than 20,000 deaths and disappearances in the central Mediterranean since 2014, including more than 220 this year, making it the most dangerous migrant route in the world.
Green party politicians demonstrated in front of Meloni’s office on Tuesday. They demand to be told why more was not done to save the migrants when the crowded vessel was spotted on Saturday.
Police said patrol boats were sent to intercept the migrants, but rough weather forced them to return to port.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Migrant boat tragedy: police arrest three as death toll rises to 64
Survivors point to Turkish man and two Pakistanis as the ‘main culprits’
Italy has arrested three people who they suspect trafficked up to 200 migrants aboard a wooden boat that broke up on rocks off southern Italy on Sunday, killing at least 64 people, police said on Tuesday.
Lt Col Alberto Lippolis said a Turkish man and two Pakistani citizens sailed the boat from Turkey to Italy despite terrible weather. Survivors identified them as “the main culprits of the tragedy”.
“According to initial investigations, they allegedly asked the migrants for about €8,000 each for the fatal journey,” said Lippolis, commander of a finance police team in the region of Calabria. “All three have been arrested.”
One Pakistani was a minor, a judicial source said, and police were looking for a fourth suspect, who is Turkish.
The boat hit rocks and broke up early on Sunday in heavy seas near the town of Steccato di Cutro on the toe of Italy.
Rescuers pulled a dead man from the sea on Tuesday, bringing the number of bodies retrieved so far to 64, including about 14 children. There were 80 survivors, who said that the boat was carrying 150 to 200 migrants.
“We will carry on searching ... the sea until we are certain that we have found everyone,” said Rocco Mortato, a member of the underwater diving team of the fire brigade.
The boat set sail from the port of Izmir in western Turkey towards the end of last week. Rescuers said most of the migrants came from Afghanistan, with others from Pakistan, Iran, Somalia and Syria.
‘Traumatised’
Teams from the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) charity were providing psychological support to the survivors.
“They are heavily traumatised. Everyone has lost someone,” said Mara Eliana Tunno, an MSF psychologist.
One 12-year-old boy lost his whole family. A 16-year-old Afghan boy lost his sister. “He didn’t have the courage to tell his parents,” Tunno said.
The tragedy has fuelled a debate on migration in Europe and Italy, where the recently elected right-wing government’s tough new laws for migrant rescue charities have drawn criticism from the UN and others.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in an interview on Monday that she had written to EU institutions calling for immediate action by the bloc to stop migrant boat trips so as to avert more deaths.
“The more people depart, the more risk dying,” she said on RAI public television. “The only way to tackle this issue seriously, with humanity, is to stop the departures.”
Hundreds of thousands of migrants have reached Italy by boat over the past decade, fleeing conflict and poverty back home.
The UN Missing Migrants Project registered more than 20,000 deaths and disappearances in the central Mediterranean since 2014, including more than 220 this year, making it the most dangerous migrant route in the world.
Green party politicians demonstrated in front of Meloni’s office on Tuesday. They demand to be told why more was not done to save the migrants when the crowded vessel was spotted on Saturday.
Police said patrol boats were sent to intercept the migrants, but rough weather forced them to return to port.
Reuters
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