Were human smugglers on board boat of death?
Swedish officials suspect that people involved in human smuggling were on board a migrant boat rescued by the coastguard's ship off the Libyan coast in a catastrophe that claimed 52 lives.
Swedish ship Poseidon rescued 130 people from a rubber dinghy and another 442 from a wooden boat found drifting off the Libyan coast on Thursday. Fifty-two people were found dead in the hold of the wooden boat.
The ship reached the port of Palermo at 8.30pm on Thursday. Survivors were taken ashore and transported to a refugee reception centre on Sicily.
The reported number of deaths has varied - with initial estimates putting the figure at 40 - and the Swedish coastguard said that difficult conditions had made it hard to get an accurate number.
“What is left at Poseidon is the ultimate sign of the tragedy: the refrigeration container with the 52 dead,” coastguard spokesperson Mattias Lindholm, travelling with the Poseidon, told the TT news agency late on Thursday.
The bodies were found in the boat's machine room.
“They were more or less locked up in there. The (ventilation) holes were very small and there was hardly any air coming in. It was hot, sweaty and difficult to breathe. They probably suffocated,” said Lindholm.
“The crew is very focused, they had a task to solve, but I can tell that they are affected by the tragedy that was taken on board the Swedish ship,” he added.
Police and coastguard officers said late on Thursday that they had identified suspected human smugglers on board one of the boats and would be passing the information on to Italian colleagues.
“We have information to pass on to Italian police concerning a number of individuals on board,” said Lindholm.
Officials wait to help survivors disembark the Poseidon. Photo: Kustbevakningen
Italian media said late on Thursday that a refrigerated lorry was at the dock at Palermo to take away the bodies for examination by forensic experts.
Palermo's prosecutor opened a murder inquiry similar to that launched by Catania earlier this month after the discovery of 49 bodies in the hold of another packed fishing boat.
Shortly after the bodies were brought ashore, Libya's coastguard announced that another boat, carrying around 200 migrants, had capsized off the country's coast. At least 10 people drowned in that incident. The search for survivors was ongoing.
The Swedish vessel was in the area as part of the EU border agency Frontex's search and rescue operation known as Triton. It is expected to be sailing home on Monday as its role in the mission comes to an end.
READ ALSO: Swedish ship arrives to help with migrant crisis
Calm weather this week appears to have encouraged the smugglers to get as many people as possible out to sea, knowing that, in most cases, they will be picked up by Italian or international boats and taken to Italian ports.
More than 110,000 migrants have so far landed at Italian ports this year. A further 160,000-plus have arrived in Greece.
But at least 2,300 migrants have died at sea this year during attempts to reach Europe, almost invariably on overcrowded boats chartered by people smugglers.
Comments
See Also
Swedish ship Poseidon rescued 130 people from a rubber dinghy and another 442 from a wooden boat found drifting off the Libyan coast on Thursday. Fifty-two people were found dead in the hold of the wooden boat.
The ship reached the port of Palermo at 8.30pm on Thursday. Survivors were taken ashore and transported to a refugee reception centre on Sicily.
The reported number of deaths has varied - with initial estimates putting the figure at 40 - and the Swedish coastguard said that difficult conditions had made it hard to get an accurate number.
“What is left at Poseidon is the ultimate sign of the tragedy: the refrigeration container with the 52 dead,” coastguard spokesperson Mattias Lindholm, travelling with the Poseidon, told the TT news agency late on Thursday.
The bodies were found in the boat's machine room.
“They were more or less locked up in there. The (ventilation) holes were very small and there was hardly any air coming in. It was hot, sweaty and difficult to breathe. They probably suffocated,” said Lindholm.
“The crew is very focused, they had a task to solve, but I can tell that they are affected by the tragedy that was taken on board the Swedish ship,” he added.
Police and coastguard officers said late on Thursday that they had identified suspected human smugglers on board one of the boats and would be passing the information on to Italian colleagues.
“We have information to pass on to Italian police concerning a number of individuals on board,” said Lindholm.
Officials wait to help survivors disembark the Poseidon. Photo: Kustbevakningen
Italian media said late on Thursday that a refrigerated lorry was at the dock at Palermo to take away the bodies for examination by forensic experts.
Palermo's prosecutor opened a murder inquiry similar to that launched by Catania earlier this month after the discovery of 49 bodies in the hold of another packed fishing boat.
Shortly after the bodies were brought ashore, Libya's coastguard announced that another boat, carrying around 200 migrants, had capsized off the country's coast. At least 10 people drowned in that incident. The search for survivors was ongoing.
The Swedish vessel was in the area as part of the EU border agency Frontex's search and rescue operation known as Triton. It is expected to be sailing home on Monday as its role in the mission comes to an end.
READ ALSO: Swedish ship arrives to help with migrant crisis
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.