Distress call just before sinking migrant boat

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In a speech to parliament in Rome on Tuesday, the politician reported on the events of that night of February 25-26, saying that a distress call did not arrive at the control center until around 4am. The emergency services were then alerted. But for many adults and children on the boat, help came too late. Piantedosi said 72 bodies have now been found.

The police, the coastguard and the government have been under heavy criticism for days. The charge is that not everything possible was done to save the night. Piantedosi sharply rejected this. The authorities would have followed all rules and command structures.

At the same time, the minister reported on the last moments before the sinking, citing survivor statements: According to this, the smugglers saw light on land 200 meters before reaching the coast of the Calabria region and feared that police officers were waiting there. So they tried to make a sharp turn. However, the boat was reportedly driven into shallow ground and damaged. water had entered.

Migrants reported that two smugglers then jumped into the sea. A third smuggler fled in a dinghy and picked up the accomplices. At the same time, a wave caught the boat, which overturned and sank. When most rescuers reached the beach area of ​​the village of Steccato di Cutro, many bodies of refugees and migrants had already washed ashore. The suspected smugglers – a Turk and two Pakistanis – were arrested.

This Thursday, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni invites the Council of Ministers to a meeting in Cutro. There she wants to announce further measures in the fight against illegal migration and people smugglers. (SDA)

Source: Blick