“Italy, here we come!” young men in Urdu and Pashto cheered as they filmed themselves standing on a ship on clear blue waters.
They were amongst some 180 migrants – Afghans, Pakistanis, Syrians, Iranians, Palestinians, Somalis and others – who left Turkey in the hope of a greater or just safer life in Europe.
A couple of days later, dozens of them were dead. To date, 70 bodies have been recovered from the February 26 shipwreck near the small coastal town of Steccato di Cutro, but only 80 survivors have been found, indicating that the death toll was higher. On Sunday, divers from the fire department spotted one other body in the Ionian Sea and worked to bring it ashore, state television reported.
The tragedy highlighted a lesser known migration route from Turkey to Italy. Attention was also drawn to the tightening of Italian and European migration policies, which since 2015 have moved away from search and rescue, prioritizing border protection. The Italian government can also be being asked why the coast guard was not deployed until it was too late.
Based on court documents, testimonies from survivors and relatives, and statements from authorities, the AP reconstructed what is understood about the events leading as much as the shipwreck and the questions left unanswered.
Fatal trip
In the early hours of Wednesday, February 22, migrants – including dozens of families with young children – boarded a pleasure boat on a beach near Izmir after traveling by truck from Istanbul and walking through the forest on foot.
They left the shore. But just three hours into the journey, the ship suffered engine failure. Still on the high seas, an old picket gulet – a standard Turkish boat – arrived as a alternative.
The smugglers and their assistants told the migrants to cover below decks as they continued their journey west. Without lifejackets or seats, they huddled on the floor, only leaving briefly for air or to run errands. Survivors said the other boat also had engine problems, making several stops along the way.
Three days later, on Saturday, February 25, at 10:26 p.m., a European Union Border and Coast Guard aircraft patrolling the Ionian Sea spotted a ship heading towards the Italian coast. The agency, generally known as Frontex, said the ship “showed no signs of distress” and was sailing at 6 knots with “good” buoyancy.
Frontex sent an e-mail to the Italian authorities at 23:03, reporting one person on the upper deck and possibly more people downstairs detected by thermal imaging cameras. There have been no life jackets in sight. The e-mail also mentioned that a satellite phone was comprised of the boat to Turkey.
In response to the Frontex surveillance, the case was classified as “Maritime Police activity”. The Italian Guardia di Finanza, or financial police, which also has a border and customs role, sent two patrols to “intercept the ship”.
As the Turkish boat approached the Italian coast of Calabria on Saturday evening, a few of the migrants on the boat were allowed to send a message to their families to tell them of their imminent arrival and release fee 8000 euros which was agreed with the smugglers.
The lads navigating the boat told concerned passengers that that they had to attend a number of more hours to disembark to avoid being caught, based on survivors’ testimonies.
At 3:48 a.m. on Sunday, February 26, the financial police ships returned to base, having failed to succeed in the boats attributable to bad weather. Police contacted the coast guard to ask in the event that they had any vessels at sea “in case of an emergency,” based on a message obtained by Italian news agency ANSA and confirmed by the AP. The coast guard replied no. “OK, just desired to allow you to know,” the police officer said before hanging up.
Just a number of minutes later, around 4am, local fishermen on the southern coast of Italy noticed the lights in the darkness. People desperately waved flashlights on their mobile phones from the top of a ship that was stranded on the sandy shore.
In line with survivors, suspected smugglers grabbed black tubes, presumably life jackets, and jumped into the water to avoid wasting themselves. The waves continued to hit the vessel until it burst suddenly. The sound was like an explosion, said the survivors. People were falling into the icy water, attempting to grab onto anything they may. Many couldn’t swim.
Italian police arrived on the scene at 4:30 am, just as the coastguard received the first distress calls related to the boat. It took the coast guard one other hour to reach. By then, bodies were being pulled from the water, and other people were screaming for help while others tried to resuscitate the victims.
Young victims
There have been dozens of babies on board the boat. Almost none survived. The body of the 3-year-old was recovered on Saturday.
Amongst the survivors was a Syrian father and his eldest child, but his wife and three other children weren’t. The body of his youngest, a 5-year-old boy, was still missing 4 days later.
Shahid Raza, an athlete from Pakistan, died in the tragedy. She hoped to make it to Europe to finally bring her disabled son to the treatment he had no access to at home.
An Afghan man got here from Germany on the lookout for his 15-year-old nephew, who contacted his family saying he was in Italy. But the boy also died before he set foot on land.
The uncle asked that his name and that of his nephew not be published because he had not yet informed the boy’s father.
The newborn-faced teenager shared the video together with his family during his sea voyage in seemingly positive weather.
His mother died two years ago, and with the return of the Taliban to power, the family fled to Iran. Later, the boy went to Turkey, from where he tried again and again to get to the EU.
“Europe is the only place where you’ll be able to not less than respect the human being,” he said. “Everyone knows it’s 100% dangerous, but they’re risking their lives because they know that in the event that they succeed, they will live.”
Additional time
Prosecutors have launched two investigations – one into suspected smugglers and the other to see if Italian authorities delayed their response to the migrant boat.
A Turk and two Pakistanis amongst the 80 survivors were detained, suspected of being smugglers or their accomplices. The fourth suspect, a Turkish citizen, is on the run.
Particular attention was given to why the Coast Guard was never sent to examine the boat.
The day after the crash, Frontex told the AP that it had spotted a “heavily overcrowded” boat and had reported it to Italian authorities. Nevertheless, in a second statement, Frontex clarified that just one person was seen on board, but that its thermal imaging cameras – “and other signs” – indicated there may very well be more people below.
In an interview with the AP, retired coastguard admiral Vittorio Alessandro said the coastguard boats are made to resist rough seas and that they need to have left. “If to not rescue, then not less than to see if the boat needs help.”
Alessandro added that photos published by Frontex showed that the water level was high, suggesting the boat was heavy.
The coastguard said Frontex had alerted Italian “law enforcement” authorities, mimicking the Italian coastguard “just for his or her awareness”. Frontex said it was as much as national authorities to categorise incidents as search and rescue.
“The matter is easy in its tragic nature: no alarm message from Frontex has reached our authorities. We weren’t warned that this boat was in peril of sinking,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Saturday.
“I’m wondering if there may be anyone on this country who sincerely believes that the government deliberately allowed greater than 60 people to die, including some children,” she added.
Nevertheless, Alessandro lamented that over the years, coastguard operations – which had previously taken place whilst far-off as international waters – were regularly reduced by successive governments.
“Rescue operations at sea mustn’t get replaced by police operations. Rescue must win,” he said.
Chatting with the AP, Eugenio Ambrosi, Chief of Staff of the UN’s International Organization for Migration, stressed the need for a more proactive search and rescue strategyat the European level.
“We are able to look and debate whether (the boat) was spotted moderately than spotted, whether authorities were called and didn’t respond,” he said. “But we would not be asking this query if there was a search and rescue mechanism in the Mediterranean.”