Smugglers threw children overboard to try to lighten the weight of a boat carrying migrants that sank on Sunday off Italy’s Calabria region, according to several survivors of a shipwreck that could have claimed more than a hundred lives.
“The traffickers have started throwing children overboard. They grabbed their hands and threw them into the sea,” the survivor told La Stampa newspaper. Three alleged traffickers have been arrested and police are looking for at least one more who may have been among the victims.
The latest balance of the Italian authorities is 62 dead, including 14 children, but dozens of people are missing, with several survivors saying that there were about 200 people on the ship. Only 80 people were rescued alive.
The ship left Turkey and was carrying migrants from Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. A 12-year-old Afghan boy has lost nine family members, including his parents.
Author: Ricardo Ramos
Source: CM Jornal
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