The harrowing accounts of two shipwreck survivors
Kathimerini.gr has published excerpts from the harrowing depositions of two of the survivors of the fishing trawler that sunk off southwestern Greece early Wednesday.
Both estimate that there were 700 passengers on the ship. Authorities have rescued 104 and 78 have been recovered, all on Wednesday. Subsequent searches in the area, near the deepest part of the Mediterranean, have turned up nothing
The two survivors describe in detail the conditions that prevailed on the trawler before it sank.
Hassan, 23, lived with his family on the outskirts of Damascus in Syria and had already worked in Lebanon for three years. Then, wanting to help his family financially, he decided to look for a way to go to Europe – specifically to Germany.
Doing his own research, he found, he testified, a man who was able to arrange illegal travel to Europe through Libya. He contacted him by phone and never met him in person.
At this point the 23-year-old described what happened until he boarded the fateful ship:
“My father gave $4,500 to middlemen and when I arrived in Italy, the traffickers would receive the money. In February, I legally left Syria by air and went to Libya – specifically to Benghazi – and from there to Tripoli. I worked there for 40 days, but they didn’t pay me well and a person from the (trafficking) ring took me to a hideout. in the days before I embarked I was taken to various houses (that served as) hideouts. On June 9, 2023 a truck came and took all of us, about 300 people, to a port where the ship we traveled on was. At about 2.30 am, 40 people got into a small boat and after five minutes we had reached the big ship”.
Hassan then recounted what happened after the migrants boarded the ship.
“I was on the third trip that the little boat made. At about 5.00 we started. The boat was a rusty, blue fishing boat, about 20-25 meters long. I was initially made to sit belowdecks, but, as I couldn’t breathe, I paid 10 euros and a person, who I never saw again, carried me to the deck. We were traveling for four days, they gave us little food and dirty water. I estimate that there were about 700 people traveling on the ship. The captain had a satellite phone. When he rested, the wheel was taken by another, who I believe was his right-hand man. About 15 people were traffickers and they controlled us, gave us food and water and made the decisions. They could move freely inside the ship, while the rest of us could not move.
“From the second day onwards, the engine, which was being maintained by one of the 15 I mentioned above, started to fail. On June 13, 2023 in the morning a lot of people started complaining because they had stopped giving us food and water and many of the passengers thought the captain was lost and didn’t know how to reach Italy so the captain (was forced) to call for help,” he noted.
“At some point in the evening, a Coast Guard ship came to help and suddenly the ship capsized and we were in the water. Then they rescued us with an inflatable boat. Another 2-3 ships came later in the night and helped. In the morning we were transferred to one of them and it brought us to the port [Kalamata] where we are now. They also gave us water,” said the 23-year-old, adding that, being shown the photos of the rescued, he recognized seven of them as members of the trafficking ring.
Finally, he noted that none of the passengers were wearing a lifejacket.
The same scenes were described by 24-year-old Rana from Pakistan, who saw his life destroyed in an instant, when he realized that he would never see his wife or children again.
“We decided to go to Italy for a better life and because that’s where my brother lives. I gave an advance of 8,000 dollars to a Pakistani named R. and when we would arrive in Italy my brother would give the rest which I don’t know how much it would be because my brother has arranged (the payment). R. gave me back $2,000 of that amount to give to someone named A. in Libya who – from what I understood – was his brother and – from what he later told me – the boat that would transport us was his. About a month ago we left by air from Pakistan to Dubai and from there to Egypt and from there again by air to Libya. They drove us to a house where we stayed with 150 other people, which was half an hour’s drive away. We stayed there for five days and then A. took us to an apartment where about 200 people were inside. We stayed there for about 20 days and then A. took us to a glass house where about 300 people were. We stayed there one night and the next day they took us in 12 cars or so to an apartment in the city of Tobruk, Libya. We stayed there for a few days and at dawn on June 9, 2023, trucks took us to a beach in Libya,” he said.
“In the sea there was a large fishing boat about 30 meters long, which was old and blue in color. They took us to the fishing boat that was out at sea in smaller boats. On the boat when we boarded were two people who had an active role in our transportation and were in command. They told us where to sit when we boarded the boat. Specifically, I was made to sit on the upper deck and my wife and children were put in a cabin. They started our journey on Friday morning and there were about 700 people on the boat. We had been traveling for three days and then the boat’s engine broke down. There was a person repairing the boat’s engine, but it kept breaking down. In the evening hours of June 13, 2023, the traffickers had turned off the boat’s engines so that the passing ships wouldn’t hear any noise.”
The 24-year-old then described the scenes of tragedy that unfolded when the ship began to sink.
“Some of the Egyptians asked for water from a passing ship. The crew of a ship threw water, but the Egyptians took it all and did not give it to us. We fought with each other and then they gave us water too. Then they started the engine and we continued our journey. Half an hour later the boat’s engine stopped again. I was sitting on my knees and reciting prayers because I was afraid and suddenly I felt the boat tilting to one side. The boat began to take on water. Then we all moved to the other side and, because the weight went to the other side, the boat began to sink. Some jumped into the sea and some others held on to different parts of the boat. I jumped into the sea, but because I didn’t know how to swim I sat on my back and waited for them to save me. A few minutes later, a large boat passed by and picked up those of us who were at sea and brought us here. Those who did not manage to get out sank into the water along with the boat, and among them my wife and children, who were in the cabin.”
