Shipwreck in Crotone: sighted a body in Botricello. There are now 70 confirmed victims
The sea continues to return the bodies of migrants who died in the Crotone tragedy. A body was sighted in the sea of Botricello, a short distance from Steccato di Cutro where the shipwreck occurred a week ago.
Crotone, the expanse of white sheets covering the bodies of migrants who died in the shipwreck
Firefighters are working to recover the body. At the moment there are 70 confirmed victims.
The searches continue
The firefighters, with the first light of dawn, this morning resumed the search at sea for other bodies of the victims of the sinking of the boat loaded with migrants. On the other hand, searches on the beach, which embrace the entire Crotone coast and for which numerous volunteers collaborate, have never been suspended. For searches at sea, in particular, a helicopter, a dinghy and two jet skis are used. The patrol activity will continue to the bitter end, unless otherwise provided by the Prefecture of Crotone, which coordinates the searches in which units of the Crotone Coast Guard participate. After the discovery yesterday of the bodies of two children, there are currently 70 confirmed victims of the shipwreck. Between 30 and 50 people are missing. There is an Italy that has been close to the migrants for days shipwreck in front of the Steccato di Cutro beach.
The best of Italy: first responders, volunteers still engaged in research in Crotone, aid and condolences
lovable flavia
The homily in the cathedral of Crotone
This morning in the cathedral of Crotone a moved and participated mass. They are not numbers, they are people. We feel the need to make the appeal of the Holy Father Pope Francis our own. We are all migrants called to live life on pilgrimage”. These were the words of Don Pasquale Aceto. «The Lord does not give up calling us in this full life. Let us not allow ourselves to be tamed by evil, let us overcome evil with good. Let us pray for the victims of the shipwreck, reiterating that «they are not numbers but people. For the pain of our brothers to be alleviated, for those who suffer from the departure of loved ones we ask for the gift of consolation and he pledged it to us for a better world».
The political confrontation
The debate on the tragedy of migrants continues. «Establishing European flows, on the part of the EU, would be fundamental. Even with a series of agreements with states and reward mechanisms for those who are more virtuous. We will increase the quotas of regular immigrants for those states that better combat the phenomenon of illegal immigrants, by making the smugglers’ boats go back or not”, these are the words of the deputy prime minister and foreign minister Antonio Tajani. «Certainly the fewer irregulars there are, the more lives are saved. But it is a question that must be tackled at its root: criminals must be fought vigorously by removing the engines from the smugglers’ boats but also by working to support the economies of the countries most in difficulty. It is necessary to act for the stabilization of Africa, because wars create new exoduses. We asked the Emirates for a hand in Tunisia and Libya, where they are influential. There is also aid from the International Monetary Fund for Tunisia. I talked about it with Georgieva and Blinken, I was in the USA: a billion dollar loan is important. Also in Tunis, Ambassador Teresa Castaldo, director general of development cooperation, was on a mission: Italy will commit 100 million for cooperation. Libya? The political confrontation has resumed, we are in contact with all the parties, in a role of mediation ».
Harsh comment by Massimiliano Iervolino, secretary of the Italian Radicals: «Unfortunately, the tears shed in Cutro for the victims of the shipwreck soon turned out to be crocodile tears. The law of 24 February 2023, n. 15, which converted the Legislative Decree of 2 January 2023, n. 1 “containing urgent provisions for the management of migratory flows. The law has been in force since yesterday and in reality – he underlines -, it does not manage migratory flows but limits itself to severely limiting the operation of NGO ships in the Mediterranean. Who wrote the law – observes Iervolino – does not know the material conditions in which the crew members of the NGOs must operate after having carried out the rescue of hundreds of migrants. And what is required of them is the responsibility of the Italian authorities, at the port of disembarkation. Furthermore, the law requires that the port of disembarkation assigned by the competent authorities be reached without delay for the completion of the rescue operation; it is clear that this apparently innocuous provision will be used to prevent the NGO ship from carrying out multiple rescues. Therefore, in the future we will have various cases of denial of rescue, in violation of the provisions on the law of the sea”
