The United Nations has confirmed that the death toll from the weekend’s Mediterranean boat disaster is at least 800 – with the victims being of multiple nationalities.
Following interviews with some of the 27 survivors from the tragedy who arrived at the Italian port of Catania, officials for both the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported that some of the dead were children between the ages of 10 and 12.
Police at the port also confirmed a Tunisian and a Syrian man who were among the survivors had been taken into custody over suspicions they were members of a smuggling gang thought to have organised the fatal voyage.
“We can say that 800 are dead,” said Carlotta Sami, spokeswoman for the UNHCR.
“There were a little over 800 people on board, including children aged between 10 and 12. There were Syrians, about 150 Eritreans, Somalians … They had left Tripoli at about 8am on Saturday.”
Flavio Di Giacomo, IOM Italy spokesperson, added: “All the 28 survivors/witnesses have now talked to Italian officials. We believe these are likely to be [pretty] definite figures of what is the deadliest disaster in the Mediterranean to date.”
The confirmation of the death toll came as salvage crews scoured the waters off Libya for bodies and reports came in of many more desperate migrants heading for Europe in unseaworthy craft, oblivious to the overwhelming odds against them.
Matteo Renzi, Italy’s prime minister, said rescues were under way to help save migrants trapped on two vessels carrying about 450 people off the Libyan coast. Earlier, the IOM said “at least” 20 fatalities had been reported from one of the vessels, carrying about 300 people, although that could not be immediately confirmed.
Meanwhile, a fragile wooden boat with more than 80 people aboard ran aground off the Aegean island of Rhodes. The Greek authorities reported at least three people had been killed, including a child.
As the Italian rescue crews returned to base after fruitless searches for more survivors from the weekend shipwreck, the scale and horror came into ever sharper focus of what is likely to be the worst maritime disaster of its kind.
Vincenzo Bonomo, one of the Italian rescuers, told La Repubblica: “It was a sight that broke the hearts of even men of the sea like us.
“I saw children’s shoes, clothing, backpacks floating in the water. Every time we saw a shoe or a bag, any sign of life, we thought we might have found a survivor. But every time we were disappointed. It was heart-breaking,” Bonomo said.
“We didn’t find a single survivor – not one. We didn’t leave the area until the last shred of hope had gone. We wanted to at least find more bodies so that they could be given a dignified burial.”
“They told us that there were between 700 and 900 people on board, mostly in the hold where they were trapped after the boat capsized,” said Gianluigi Bove, the rescue boat captain. “There was no trace of the boat, just debris and traces of petrol.”
An Italian prosecutor, Giovanni Salvi, says the smugglers’ boat that sank near Libya this weekend had three levels and the doomed migrants were locked in the hull and middle deck.
One survivor, identified as a 32-year-old Bangladeshi, has put the number of people on board the smugglers’ boat at as many as 950, though Salvi said that number should be treated with caution. He added that the Italian coast guard had estimated 700 people had been on board, based on observations at the scene of the sinking.
Anger spread across Italy at what is increasingly perceived as a humanitarian tragedy to which the rest of Europe is turning its back. Renzi compared the situation to the slaughter of Bosnian Muslims supposedly under international protection in Srebrenica 20 years ago.
“Twenty years ago, we and Europe closed our eyes to Srebrenica. Today it’s not possible to close our eyes again and only commemorate these events later,” an agitated Renzi said in a press conference.
Australia’s prime minister urged European leaders to adopt tougher border control measures. Tony Abbott, whose government implemented a strict policy of turning back asylum seekers’ boats in a bid to discourage them from trying to reach Australia, called the latest Mediterranean crisis a “terrible, terrible tragedy” and suggested Europe follow Australia’s lead to ensure it was not repeated.
“The only way you can stop the deaths is to stop the people smuggling trade. The only way you can stop the deaths is, in fact, to stop the boats,” Abbott told reporters in the nation’s capital, Canberra. “That’s why it is so urgent that the countries of Europe adopt very strong policies that will end the people smuggling trade across the Mediterranean.”
Before Sunday’s disaster, aid agencies estimated that 20,000 migrants had reached the Italian coast this year and 900 had died.
The Italian coastguard ship Bruno Gregoracci docked in Malta at about 8am and dropped off two dozen bodies recovered from this weekend’s wreck, including children, according to the aid agency Save the Children. They will be buried on Malta.
Maltese citizens were urged to send bouquets of flowers for the victims to the mortuary of Mater Dei hospital by the hospital’s chief executive, Ivan Falzon.
“I’m asking you to go ahead and order a bouquet, a little thought for these people. They don’t have anyone to do it for them in little Malta,” he said, according to a report in the Times of Malta. “Most probably their family, relatives, friends, don’t even know that they’ve ceased to exist.”
Fourteen bouquets have already arrived.
While search-and-rescue operations continued near the site of the shipwreck, the captain of the Italian vessel Gianluigi Bove told reporters in Malta that it was unlikely any more survivors would be found.
“We did what was possible. At the time of the alert, we were 80 miles off the incident site,” he said. “It took us six hours to reach the area.”
While aid agencies have not yet had access to the survivors of the wreck, one survivor airlifted to Sicily for medical treatment said the fishing boat had been carrying about 950 people, including many women and children.
When a commercial vessel passed by, the passengers surged to one side to call for help and the ship capsized. It was the second time in recent weeks that such an accident was reported.
On Monday night, as the ship carrying the 27 survivors arrived in Catania UNHCR spokeswoman Carlotta Sami said that the migrants appeared fragile, exhausted and astonished to see so many people waiting for them. They are now thought to have disembarked, with at least one removed from the vessel in a wheelchair. Sami said all the survivors are likely to need psychological support after their ordeal. The migrants are thought to be young, with some in the group under the age of 18.
At the port Italian officials arrested two men from the ship. Prosecutor Giovanni Salvi said that following the testimony of survivors, the Tunisian captain of the sunken boat, and a Syrian man had been arrested. He went on to say that the remaining 25 migrants will be indentified following treatment, and some are expected to request asylum.
They are expected to be moved to a reception centre run by the Italian government. Aid agencies such as the International Organisation for Migration and Save the Children have officials in these welcome centres that can help evaluate the victims’ needs, particularly those of children who have been traumatised by the treacherous voyage and might be travelling without a parent.
Such reception areas are nearing full capacity and Italian officials on Monday warned that asylum policies in Europe needed to be amended to spread migrants more equally throughout the EU.
When pressed for answers on how to stem the crisis, Renzi suggested that a Europe-wide focus on rooting out and arresting human traffickers – whom he repeatedly compared to slave traders – was a first step.
“We are in the presence of a criminal organisation that is making a lot of money but mostly is ruining many human lives. Our country cannot allow this kind of trade in human lives,” he said.
However, Renzi ruled out a naval blockade in international waters, which has been touted as a possible solution. The prime minister said that would be a gift to smugglers because it would essentially allow them to send migrants off by the thousands to be picked up by the European vessels.
Police in Palermo announced on Monday that they had arrested two men suspected of being important human traffickers who operate on the Italy-Libya route, Ermias Ghermay and Medhane Yehdego Redae.
Ghermay is an Ethiopian who is believed by authorities to be responsible for the 2013 shipwreck that killed 366 people off the coast of Lampedusa.
Also on Monday, at least three people died when a boat ran aground off of Rhodes. Video footage showed a large, wooden, double-masted vessel packed with people just metres from the land. It rocked wildly in the waves and passengers were seen jumping into the sea and swimming towards the shore.
