On a day that 27 survivors of the weekend’s Mediterranean boat disaster were flown to Sicily and salvage crews scoured the waters off Libya for the bodies of up to 900 more victims, 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 International Organisation for Migration 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 of the weekend sinking, 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.
As the awful details emerged, anger spread across Italy at what is increasingly perceived as a humanitarian tragedy to which the rest of Europe is turning its back. Renzi even 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.
Before Sunday’s disaster, aid agencies estimated that 20,000 migrants had reached the Italian coast this year, and 900 had died. The tally of fatalities is set to grow almost exponentially.
The Italian coast guard ship Bruno Gregoracci docked in Malta at about 8am and dropped off two dozen bodies that had been 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.
Usually, Falzon pointed out, people are urged to make donations instead of flowers.
“Friends, today 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 who had been 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.
Upon arrival in Italy on Monday night, the 27 survivors are expected to be given blankets, food and water before being moved to a reception centre that is run by the Italian government. Aid agencies like 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 a blockade 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.
Separately, police in Palermo announced on Monday morning 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.
