Refugee drama in Italy: Kidnappers throw children into sea

After an immersion Refugee boats from Crotone, on Italy’s southern coast, authorities are now searching for survivors. What happened? How did this accident happen that killed at least 62 people? More than 12 of the dead were children and more than 30 were women.

Some of the 80 survivors are in hospital, while others have been taken to a reception center in Cabo Rizzuto. Most people are shocked, as reported by “Corriere della Sera”. They were visited by Loredana Pisani, Director of the Diocesan Center for Migrants in Crotone.

The tugboats changed course at the last minute

“It was dark, about five o’clock. “The four smugglers who were sitting in the boat suddenly saw lights shining upwards in the darkness on the beach,” shocked people told Pisani. At that time, the migrants from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran had already spent more than a week traveling across the Mediterranean in a 20-meter-long boat, 930 kilometers from Izmir, Turkey. The shore was only 100 meters away.

The smugglers may have been afraid of the police waiting for them. So they changed their route to go ashore somewhere else. But they had to hurry and speed up the boat. The only way is to reduce the weight on board. So they threw the people into the sea. At least 20 people. Children. This was reported by many survivors.

“We don’t have life jackets”

Bad weather prevailed on the night of the tragedy, with waves three to four meters high. As the Italian Coast Guard writes, the fishing cutter hit a rock. “A loud noise was heard. Then the boat broke in half. I hugged my husband and we fell into the water and I never saw him again,” the 21-year-old Pakistani woman told authorities.

Another woman testified to Pisani. “We were scared because the sea was rough. I always stayed close to my husband and prayed. Life jackets were given to only a few people and we had none,” she said. She hails from Punjab. “We got married before we left. We only had a backpack, two water bottles and some food. Then nothing.”

The 16-year-old boy, who is in the hospital, made the trip with his 28-year-old sister. “I was saved and she lost her life. I don’t have the courage to call my parents and tell them what happened. Maybe tomorrow if I have the strength I will do it,” she told the psychologist working with her.

Not far away, a twelve-year-old Afghan boy lost his entire family. Nine relatives, including his parents and four siblings, died in the accident. Not only him, many children have lost their parents in the accident. Some of them are still unable to talk about what happened.