Shipwrecks Lead To More Than 700 Migrants Lost, Feared Dead

Three shipwrecks in the Mediterranean may have left over 700 migrants dead, the United Nations Refugee Agency and Italian authorities claimed. Medecins San Frontieres posted a Tweet estimating that the number can be as high as 900. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said the wrecks responsible for the deaths have all occurred since Wednesday.

But in spite of the massive number of individuals lost at sea throughout the week, UNHCR spokesperson, William Spindler, claims that the Italian search and rescue teams were able to save 14,000 refugees making the voyage.

In the first shipwreck on Wednesday, the weight of a fishing boat was shifted and ended in disaster. Excited to see a rescue ship approaching, migrants rushed to one side of the smaller sized boat and caused it to flip over. Many of the passengers fell into the sea and possibly drowned. Authorities report that around one hundred are still missing but hundreds were saved because they remained in the boat’s holding area.

The second shipwreck occurred on Thursday. Spindler states that is when about 550 migrants died after being separated from the guide boat.

“It was being pulled by a fishing boat and it started to take on water and to sink. And the boat that was pulling it cut the rope that was being used to pull it so that it would not also go down.”

One survivor, 21-year-old Filmon Selomon from Eritrea, offered details of the events to the Associated Press, including how passengers struggled for hours to save the water-logged boat before they were forced to cut the line. The water began leaking into the second boat three hours into the journey and migrants worked feverishly to get it out.

“It was very hard because the water was coming from everywhere. We tried for six hours after which we said it was not possible anymore.”

Selomon then told AP he jumped into the water and swam to the other boat before the tow line was cut.

In the final shipwreck, Spindler reported that the Italian Coast Guard found 45 bodies. Rescuers were able to save 135 people. Because of delays in reporting, Spindler added that information from shipwrecks can be slow to arrive, especially if they are far from the coast or over a day’s sailing away.

“We might still hear about more cases of people either drowning or being missing.”

“It’s time that Europe had the courage to offer safe alternatives that allow these people to come without putting their own lives or those of their children in danger,” Tommaso Fabri of MSF Italy offered.

The three boats involved in the shipwrecks were believed to be filled with migrants from sub-Saharan Africa countries, including Nigeria, Gambia, Somalia, Ivory Coast and Guinea. As well, the boats were believed to be carrying families of Eritreans, Sudanese and other West Africans. Italian officials report there has been a recent surge in refugees making the voyage between Libya and Italy with “a big increase in the number of women and small children”.

Reuters reports that these migrants are headed to Italy for asylum and to escape wars, oppression and poverty. But, humanitarians say often times the people do not know how to swim or have access to life preservers. Instead, they forge the risk after paying hefty sums to cross from Libya to Italy – a well-known but dangerous route for migrants.

Although there is a surge this week, as of Friday 40,660 arrivals had been counted, a mere 2 percent fewer migrants than the same time last year, Italy’s Interior Ministry stated.

[Photo by Associated Press | Marina Militare]