After the death of at least 67 migrants when their boat sank off Crotone in Italy, the families of the victims are gathering and awaiting explanations from the authorities. Heartbreaking moments.
In the gymnasium of the sports palace in Crotone, in Calabria, Italy, the families of the victims gather in dead silence, sometimes broken by cries of pain. Like the heartbreaking one of a woman clinging to the remains of her younger brother, in one of the 64 coffins covered with flowers and candles.
>> Italy: at least 59 migrants died in a shipwreck off the coast of Calabria
Here temporarily rest the bodies of the victims of the sinking of a migrant boat off Crotone on February 26. A tragedy which, according to the latest report, left 67 dead, including a dozen children, at least thirty people are still missing and around 80 people survived.
Mohammad, an 18-year-old Afghan, traveled from Germany. His cousin was on board this boat with all his family. “They were five. The father, the mother and three children, one six years old, another four years old and the youngest. The baby is dead and the other four, we have not found them”, he lets go.
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Saïf came to support a friend who lost his wife. This 23-year-old Afghan girl wanted to flee the Taliban in her country. The sea crossing was his last option: “My friend first wanted to bring his wife legally by plane. But, unfortunately, the German authorities rejected these visa applications. So she decided to take the boat…”he regrets.
“Does that mean they’re going to leave others?”
Italian President Sergio Mattarella is expected in the still bruised city on Thursday March 2 for an official visit as the controversy swells. The opposition to the government of Giorgia Meloni demands explanations on the circumstances of this tragedy. Because we now know that the local authorities were aware of the presence of this boat in Italian waters, several hours before it sank, but no rescue means were sent to escort it to the coast. . So Saif wonders: “Maybe when another boat comes they’ll see it and just ignore it. If they saw it and ignored it, does that mean they’ll leave some more?”
To no longer “ignore” these deaths, Mohammad insists: he wants the name of his great-nephew to be remembered. He was a year and a half old and his name was Assed Taimouri.