Moments from safety, migrants die trying to reach Europe

[webfact]

Moments from safety, migrants die trying to reach Europe
By TRISHA THOMAS, ANDREA ROSA and FRANK JORDANS

CATANIA, Sicily (AP) — Young men piled over each other, some shimmying up ropes dangling from the towering rescue ship and others falling into the churning sea. Women and children were the last off the stricken dinghy during a chaotic Mediterranean rescue in which at least five migrants were crushed to death and more were feared drowned.

Dramatic footage shot by a seaman aboard the Maltese freighter showed the weekend rescue of more than 100 West Africans aboard the flimsy boat off the coast of Libya. Survivors were brought Tuesday to the Sicilian port of Catania.

The video, obtained by The Associated Press, highlights the danger of marine rescue, where safety and tragedy too often lie just moments apart. With tens of thousands trying to cross the sea on small boats launched by human traffickers from Libya — and hundreds dying in the attempt — the question of how best to save migrants from drowning has taken center stage in Europe.

Crew members interviewed by the AP said everyone aboard the cargo ship Zeran had undergone rescue training. But while a previous rescue several weeks ago happened calmly without any loss of life, on Sunday elation at the prospect of being saved quickly turned to panic.

Unaware that they would be thrown a ladder, frantic migrants trampled over one another to reach the ropes that were meant to hold it in place, with some dangling precariously as they clambered along the lines to reach the tall freighter.

Some jumped or fell overboard to catch lifesavers tossed into the water by crew members. Others emptied jerry cans of gasoline to use as floats, as the dinghy — already deflated at the front — began taking in water.

"Easy! Easy!" implored a crew member from Zeran's deck.

"There was the big ship there and they threw down ropes," Astou Fall Dia, a 24 year-old migrant from Senegal, told the AP after disembarking from the cargo ship.

"Someone grabbed onto the rope. All the other people started pushing to try to save themselves but the people started falling in the water."

Dia said she survived because she stayed close to the dinghy, and because she knew how to swim — unlike most of the migrants who come from poor African countries.

Five bodies were recovered from inside the dinghy, floating amid garbage and water that had seeped in. A crew member said they died in the final rush to be rescued and the Catania prosecutor's office said late Tuesday that a preliminary investigation showed they were crushed to death.

At least another five to nine people fell into the water and drowned, said the seaman who shot the video, though one man floating away with the current and clinging to a lifesaver was rescued by crew on a Zeran lifeboat.

The seaman and other crew members spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Save the Children, which interviewed the survivors upon their arrival, said the migrants reported "dozens" of people died in the rescue 25 miles off the Libyan coast.

The weekend saw a dramatic increase in rescues as smugglers in Libya took advantage of calm seas and warm weather to send thousands of would-be refugees out into the Mediterranean in overloaded rubber boats and fishing vessels. The coast guard reported that nearly 7,000 people were rescued in the three days ending Sunday.

On Tuesday, the Italian Mission to the United Nations tweeted that coast guard just rescued 300 migrants in the Mediterranean, 80 miles (130 kilometers) off the Italian coast.

The latest deaths come on top of the estimated 800 migrants who are believed to have drowned last month when their boat capsized off Libya with hundreds of passengers locked in the hold by smugglers. A few days earlier, some 400 people were feared drowned in another capsizing.

After those deaths, the European Union held an emergency summit and agreed to contribute more boats and patrol aircraft to Mediterranean rescue efforts.

Even with the increased EU response, commercial cargo ships are increasingly being called on by Italy's coast guard to respond to migrants in need, as required by the law of the sea.

Catania prosecutor Giovanni Salvi complained last month that the commercial crews sometimes aren't trained or equipped to conduct rescues and that lives can be lost when migrants suddenly rush to one side of their unseaworthy boats as they try to get off.

Salvi later backtracked and praised the work and commitment of the commercial vessels.

But when the coast guard rescues migrant boats, it usually sends out inflatable speedboats and crews use loudspeakers to implore the passengers in various languages to stay calm and in their place.

It was clear from the footage obtained by the AP that either there was a language barrier, or the migrants couldn't hear the crew's instructions from high up on the deck — or both — in Sunday's rescue.

A second dinghy, picked up by the Italian navy the same day, suffered no casualties. Those migrants were later transferred to the Zeran.

Alpha Sisse, a 17-year-old from Ivory Coast who was among those rescued from the second boat, said he had talked to survivors from the stricken vessel.

"At least five people drowned, more are missing," he said. "They say maybe 20 people died."

Sisse said he left Libya because of the growing danger from fighting there.

Asked where he hoped to go from here, Sisse said: "Anywhere there is work."
___

Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-05-06

[Doc46]

Sorry for the death people,,but why are the called Migrants? They are not, they are Refugees invading Europe,Than they want jobs and a hand out from the Government ,Taken jobs and money away from the European people ,Send them back home. Europe has to look after their own poor people first . How many homeless and hungry poor people are in Europe? Thousands .

[ggt]

Kudos to the freighter and it's crew for the rescue attempt...desperate people...sad ending for many...

[maidee]

make a law, that if a ship takes up illegals, they will be financially responsible

[Scott]

Sorry for the death people,,but why are the called Migrants? They are not, they are Refugees invading Europe,Than they want jobs and a hand out from the Government ,Taken jobs and money away from the European people ,Send them back home. Europe has to look after their own poor people first . How many homeless and hungry poor people are in Europe? Thousands .

They are not refugees until they have been screened and determined to meet the criteria for refugee status. I have no idea how many of these people would meet that criteria.

[Scott]

make a law, that if a ship takes up illegals, they will be financially responsible

There are maritime laws about assisting those in distress on the high seas.

These do not include financial responsibility directly, but getting them to a safe port can be costly.

I am not sure what you are suggesting.

[Exsexyman]

make a law, that if a ship takes up illegals, they will be financially responsible

There are maritime laws about assisting those in distress on the high seas.

These do not include financial responsibility directly, but getting them to a safe port can be costly.

I am not sure what you are suggesting.

He is clearly suggesting that if a ship assists those in distress on the high seas, the owners of said ship should be punished with financial sanctions for doing so. Classy. .

[Bwanatickey]

From what I understand about boats and water is this, as simple as a kid playing with a toy boat in a bath, put enough weight on a boat and it will eventually take on water and sink.

So the invaders landing craft are overloaded, and the water line on the invading boat is close to the seas water level, so when another boat comes near , the wash cause waves that flow over the barges sides. And they take on water.

[boomerangutang]

Patrol seashore areas where boats are being loaded? Libyans (or other N.Africans) couldn't do it on their own. If they tried, there would be carnage, shootings, pay-offs, taking advantage, etc.

EU troops couldn't do it for various other reasons, and they'd be accused of invading (called 'Crusaders' or whatever).

Ok, drop that idea.

How about setting up a holding area on N.African soil? ....to process applicants. Wouldn't work either.

Alternative: more of the same: overloaded scrappy boats hoping to get picked up by European boats, migrants taken to Europe - processed, accepted, ...... what of those who are denied refugee status? Are they shipped back to N.Africa? If so, I haven't heard of any shipped back. Maybe I'm out of the loop on what's been going on.

[Credo]

How about resettling them in some place like Ukraine? It's not a new idea, the Australian's are doing something like that.

That might act as really big deterrent.

Edited May 6, 2015 by Credo

[Suradit69]

Sorry for the death people,,but why are the called Migrants? They are not, they are Refugees invading Europe,Than they want jobs and a hand out from the Government ,Taken jobs and money away from the European people ,Send them back home. Europe has to look after their own poor people first . How many homeless and hungry poor people are in Europe? Thousands .

"How many homeless and hungry poor people are in Europe?"

To be fair, many of them have "migrated" to Thailand.

Of course you could also ask how many African nations were plundered by the parasitical Europeans in a way that appeared a great deal like rape & pillage and genocidal colonialism.

Edited May 7, 2015 by Suradit69

[connda]

Sorry for the death people,,but why are the called Migrants? They are not, they are Refugees invading Europe,Than they want jobs and a hand out from the Government ,Taken jobs and money away from the European people ,Send them back home. Europe has to look after their own poor people first . How many homeless and hungry poor people are in Europe? Thousands .

Hey. This is the New World Order. What? You thought that chaos was going to stay contained in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East? Open your borders and let everyone in.

Well, except for here in The LOS. Lol. Just ask any Royinghan.

Edited May 7, 2015 by connda

[otherstuff1957]

The reason so many migrants are dying is that they know that as soon as they set one foot in Europe they are pretty much guarenteed jobs, residence and eventually citizenship. If they thought that they would be sent back to Afica, the numbers would drop by 80 or 90%.

[Johnny S]

Europe cant be a social office for Northern Africa ...

[connda]

Europe cant be a social office for Northern Africa ...

The nanny states will be nanny states until they are completely overwhelmed by illegal immigrants who will then set these countries back to third-world status. No big deal though.

The future is Asia.

[thaibeachlovers]

Till the so called leaders of Europe do like Australia and resettle all illegal migrants that reach Europe in another country, expect to see this sort of thing continue.

Unsurprisingly, there are still some ignoramuses that advocate letting all of the millions of desperate illegal economic migrants unlimited access to Europe, probably because they live in gated communities and have cushy government jobs.

[BKResort]

Sorry for the death people,,but why are the called Migrants? They are not, they are Refugees invading Europe,Than they want jobs and a hand out from the Government ,Taken jobs and money away from the European people ,Send them back home. Europe has to look after their own poor people first . How many homeless and hungry poor people are in Europe? Thousands .

Can I remind you that most refugees are from Alger, and placed them in that situation because NATO, EU and US destroyed its country?