One has what it takes to be a thriller, the other doesn’t: why is the U-boat accident more interesting than dead refugees?

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On June 14, a fishing boat sank in international waters off the coast of Greece. An estimated 400 to 750 migrants were on board the boat. Greek authorities’ search and rescue operations have recovered 104 survivors and 82 bodies, with hundreds more missing and presumed dead.

On June 18, the submarine Titan, controlled by Ocean Gate, disappeared in the international waters of the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The submarine was on a tourist expedition to visit the wreck of the Titanic and had five people on board, including three billionaires. After extensive rescue efforts on June 22, the sad certainty came: the five people on board the Titan had died.

Two terrible tragedies, only one of which arouses enormous interest. If you look around the media, you quickly get the impression that the lives of three billionaires are worth more attention, more rescue attempts and more money than those of hundreds of migrants.

Submarine Tragedy has the makings of a thriller

Why is it that we are fascinated by the search for five adventurous billionaires, but the mass grave in the Mediterranean seems to leave us cold?

Sensations generate attention. A fatal submarine accident may happen every few decades. And the events surrounding the five missing people resemble a thriller: the uncertainty has not left us. As soon as the first missing persons report was published, it was clear that it was a race against time. You could puzzle, discuss and participate. Sometimes the border of tastelessness was crossed, after all, it is about five lives that were wiped out.

There is no keeping up with the recurring accidents involving nameless migrants – however cynical that may sound. Unfortunately, the horror reports from the Mediterranean are not new: even before the most recent deaths, it was known that at least 1,039 people had drowned this year during the Mediterranean crossing. The actual number is probably much higher, many accidents are never registered. The International Organization for Migration estimates that more than 27,000 migrants have disappeared in the Mediterranean since 2014. Result: recurring horror stories make you pass out. And therefore tempted to look the other way.

Two setbacks that cannot be compared

You cannot compare the two events. And you shouldn’t play the dead off against each other. It is not objectionable that we want to know everything about the deadly submarine accident. But it is reprehensible that we do not show the same compassion for the hundreds of migrants who drowned in the Mediterranean as we do for the five people in the submarine.

Source: Blick