Hundreds feared dead as another
refugee boat sinks in Mediterranean
By Peter Schwarz
19 April 2016
19 April 2016
According to
numerous news sources, another disaster involving a refugee boat took place
Monday in the Mediterranean Sea. Italian President Sergio Mattarella spoke of
several hundred deaths, while German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
confirmed over 300. Somalia’s ambassador in Egypt told BBC Arabic that there
were 400 deaths.
Reports say the
refugees came from Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Egypt and Sudan. They were
reportedly traveling from Egypt to Italy in boats that were poorly equipped for
the voyage.
The BBC published
interviews with 41 survivors who said up to 500 people died. The survivors
spoke to the BBC from the southern Greek city of Kalamata, where they are being
held after their rescue. The news agency quoted Abdul Kadir, a Somali, as saying
some 240 migrants left the Libyan port of Tobruk heading for Italy. He said
that once out on the Mediterranean, traffickers made them move in the middle of
the night onto a bigger wooden boat that already had at least 300 people on it.
This boat then capsized.
The BBC quotes
Muaz, from Ethiopia, saying, “My wife and baby drowned in front of me.”
More:
Comments
Post a Comment