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Traffickers inflated dinghy and left migrants to their death, says survivor
CGTN
01:48

One survivor of a boat wreck on Sunday off the coast of Italy told investigators that the traffickers inflated a dinghy and left the boat, abandoning those on board knowing they were in imminent danger.

Sunday's tragedy reportedly occurred when the engine of the small wooden boat stacked with around 200 migrants began smoking. The boat then hit rocks and broke up in heavy seas near the town of Steccato di Cutro on the toe of Italy.

Three suspected human traffickers have been arrested after the sinking of the migrant boat that killed at least 64, and hopes of finding more survivors are fading.

Coffins containing people who died in the migrant shipwreck, lie in state at Palasport in Crotone, Italy. /Reuters/Remo Casilli
Coffins containing people who died in the migrant shipwreck, lie in state at Palasport in Crotone, Italy. /Reuters/Remo Casilli

Coffins containing people who died in the migrant shipwreck, lie in state at Palasport in Crotone, Italy. /Reuters/Remo Casilli

Watching from the shore, CGTN Europe correspondent Johannes Pleschberger saw the 64th body pulled out on Tuesday morning before speaking to local mayor Antonio Ceraso nearby.

"The search continues because there are still several people missing," Ceraso told him. "The images I've seen will never get out of my mind. Trust me, it's not easy - these are unforgettable memories."

Around 80 survivors have been accounted for on the eastern coast of Calabria, but the number of deaths is predicted to top 100.

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Lieutenant Colonel Alberto Lippolis said a Turkish man and two Pakistani nationals had sailed the boat from Türkiye to Italy despite the terrible weather, and were identified by survivors as "the main culprits of the tragedy."

"According to initial investigations, they allegedly asked the migrants for about 8,000 euros ($8,485) each for the deadly journey," said Lippolis, commander of a finance police team in the region of Calabria. "All three have been arrested."

One of the Pakistanis was a minor, a judicial source said, and police are looking for a fourth suspect, who is Turkish.

Although the death toll currently stands at 64, Afghanistan's Taliban-led foreign ministry said on Tuesday that 80 Afghan citizens, including children, had died.

"With great sadness, we learned...that 80 Afghan refugees, including women and children, who were travelling from Türkiye to Italy in a wooden boat, drowned and died in the southern sea of ​​Italy," the Afghan foreign affairs ministry said in a statement.

Rescuers said most of the migrants came from Afghanistan, with others from Pakistan, Iran, Somalia and Syria. Relatives of the victims arrived in Crotone from northern Europe to mourn the dead and try to trace survivors.

"We will carry on searching...the sea until we are certain that we have found everyone," said Rocco Mortato, a member of the underwater diving team of the fire brigade.

The tragedy has fueled a debate on migration in Europe and Italy, where the recently elected right-wing government's tough new laws for migrant rescue charities have drawn criticism from the United Nations and others.

Police have said that patrol boats were sent to intercept the migrants, but severe weather forced them to return to port.

 

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Source(s): AFP ,Reuters

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