Rescuers have revealed harrowing details of the scene of an Italian beach littered with the bodies of migrants and debris from a shipwreck that has killed at least 62 people.
The wooden gulet, a Turkish sailing boat, was carrying around 170 people when it smashed into rocky reefs and broke apart off the coast before dawn on Sunday.
The beach at Steccato di Cutro, on Calabria’s Ionian coast, was on Monday covered with the splintered remains of the 20m boat, as well as the belongings the migrants had brought with them, including a toddler’s tiny pink sneaker and a yellow plastic pencil case decorated with pandas.
So, far 62 bodies have been recovered and dozens of people are believed to still be missing.
Children, including a baby only a few months old, are among the dead.
Firefighter Inspector Giuseppe Larosa said what gutted the first rescue crews who arrived on the scene was how many children had drowned, and that the bodies of the dead had scratches all over them, as if they had tried to hang on to the boat to save themselves.
There were only a few life jackets scattered amid the debris.
“It was a spine-chilling scene,” said Mr Larosa on the beach on Monday morning. He said he had focused on the recovery efforts, but that the reaction of the survivors haunted him.
“Bodies disseminated all along the beach, many bodies disseminated on the beach. Among them many children.
“That thing that struck me the most was their silence. The terror in their eyes and the fact that they were mute. Silent,” he said.
The UN and Doctors Without Borders, which had crews on the scene, said many of the victims were Afghans, including members of large families, as well as Pakistanis and Iraqis.
On Monday, two coastguard vessels searched the seas north to south off Steccato di Cutro while a helicopter flew overhead and a four-wheel vehicle patrolled the beach.
A strong wind whipped the seas that still churned up splinters of the boat, gas tanks, food containers and shoes.
Firefighters confirmed three more bodies had been recovered in the morning, but held out little hope of finding survivors.
“I think no, because the sea conditions are too difficult,” said provincial fire commander Roberto Fasano. “But we can never abandon this hope.”
Italy’s Sky TG24 said at least three people had been detained on suspicion they helped to organise the trip from Izmir, Turkey.
Italy is a prime destination for migrant smugglers, especially for human traffickers launching boats from Libyan shores, but also from Turkey.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who has spearheaded Italy’s clampdown on migration, visited the scene Sunday and met local officials in Crotone.
At a news conference, he insisted the solution was to put an end to migrant crossings at their origin.
“I ask myself how it’s possible that these crossings are organised, pushing women and children to make the trips that end up tragically dangerous,” he said.
According to UN figures, arrivals from the Turkish route accounted for 15 per cent of the 105,000 migrants who arrived on Italian shores last year, with nearly half of those fleeing from Afghanistan.
Would-be refugees leaving Turkey have increasingly taken the more lengthy and dangerous Mediterranean journey to Italy to avoid Greece where authorities have been repeatedly accused of pushing back migrant boats to Turkey.
Overcrowded refugee camps in Greece and the increasing difficulty faced in joining family in western and northern Europe have also led more people to pay smugglers thousands of euros to cross straight to Italy instead.
On Monday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said more than two dozen Pakistanis were believed to be among those who drowned.
“The reports of the drowning of over two dozen Pakistanis in a boat tragedy in Italy are deeply concerning and worrisome,” Mr Sharif said.
“I have directed the foreign office to ascertain facts as early as possible and take the nation into confidence.”
Pakistan Foreign Ministry representative Mumtaz Zahra said details had been requested from Italian authorities.
Afghans were the second top nationality to seek asylum in the EU last year, and have increasingly fled the spiralling security, humanitarian and economic troubles that followed the Taliban takeover in August 2021.
Italy has complained bitterly for years that fellow EU countries have baulked at taking in migrants, many of whom are aiming to find family or work in northern Europe.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for a redoubling of efforts to deal with the problem.
“The resulting loss of life of innocent migrants is a tragedy,” she said in a tweet.
Italy’s government has concentrated on complicating efforts by humanitarian boats to make several rescues in the central Mediterranean by assigning them ports of disembarkation along the country’s northern coasts.
That means the vessels need more time to return to the sea after bringing migrants aboard and taking them safely to shore.
Humanitarian organisations have lamented that the clampdown also includes an order to the charity boats not to remain at sea after the first rescue operation in hopes of performing other rescues, but to head immediately to their assigned port.
Those found in breach face stiff fines and confiscation of rescue vessels.
Score
Third Test, Day 2
New Zealand 274
Pakistan 139-3 (61 ov)
Pakistan trail by 135 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the innings
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Types of fraud
Phishing: Fraudsters send an unsolicited email that appears to be from a financial institution or online retailer. The hoax email requests that you provide sensitive information, often by clicking on to a link leading to a fake website.
Smishing: The SMS equivalent of phishing. Fraudsters falsify the telephone number through “text spoofing,” so that it appears to be a genuine text from the bank.
Vishing: The telephone equivalent of phishing and smishing. Fraudsters may pose as bank staff, police or government officials. They may persuade the consumer to transfer money or divulge personal information.
SIM swap: Fraudsters duplicate the SIM of your mobile number without your knowledge or authorisation, allowing them to conduct financial transactions with your bank.
Identity theft: Someone illegally obtains your confidential information, through various ways, such as theft of your wallet, bank and utility bill statements, computer intrusion and social networks.
Prize scams: Fraudsters claiming to be authorised representatives from well-known organisations (such as Etisalat, du, Dubai Shopping Festival, Expo2020, Lulu Hypermarket etc) contact victims to tell them they have won a cash prize and request them to share confidential banking details to transfer the prize money.
* Nada El Sawy
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK
Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
Al Watan newspaper
Cham Press TV
Sama TV
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City, Tuesday, 11pm (UAE)
Matches can be watched on BeIN Sports
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What's in the deal?
Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024
India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.
India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.
Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments
India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
