EUROPE-MIGRANTS/PALERMO DISEMBARK Swedish coastguard delivers migrants and 52 bodies to Sicilian port of Palermo
Record ID:
142318
EUROPE-MIGRANTS/PALERMO DISEMBARK Swedish coastguard delivers migrants and 52 bodies to Sicilian port of Palermo
- Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/PALERMO DISEMBARK Swedish coastguard delivers migrants and 52 bodies to Sicilian port of Palermo
- Date: 27th August 2015
- Summary: PALERMO, ITALY (AUGUST 27, 2015) (REUTERS) (NIGHT SHOTS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** SWEDISH COASTGUARD VESSEL POSEIDON PULLING INTO PORT SIDE OFFICIALS PORT SIDE MIGRANTS SITTING ON DECK MIGRANT COVERING HIS FACE AND LOOKING AT PORT MEDICAL STAFF GATHERING PORT SIDE MIGRANT FAMILY WAVING MEDICAL STAFF MIGRANTS DISEMBARKING MEDICAL STAFF TAKING TEMPERATURES OF MIGRANTS AS THEY DISEMBARK VARIOUS MIGRANTS DISEMBARKING MIGRANT IN WHEELCHAIR MIGRANTS HAVING TEMPERATURE CHECKED MIGRANTS WALKING AWAY FROM SHIP MIGRANT FATHER HOLDING BABY IN ARMS MIGRANT WALKING AWAY WOMAN BEING CHECKED BY MEDICAL STAFF MIGRANTS DISEMBARKING WOMAN AND CHILD BEING CHECKED BY MEDICAL STAFF VARIOUS MIGRANTS DISEMBARKING (SOUNDBITE) (English) COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER SWEDISH COAST GUARD MATTIAS LINDHOLM SAYING: "We were requested to go to a rubber boat in the high sea outside the coast of Libya with 130 persons onboard. Ten minutes after we approached the rubber boat we got visual site of a wooden boat, very close. We had to give priority to the rubber boat since it was in bad condition. After one hour we could proceed to the wooden boat with approximately 500 people onboard. We could bring it along side the Poseidon to make it easier for the migrants to go onboard. We saw some hatches on the wooden deck with people below. Once we could open the hatches enough they started to come out of course. And once we looked down we discovered bodies that we could count 52. The atmosphere below deck was really bad, the level of oxygen was very low, the area was overcrowded and it is not what we expected in a humane way to travel. This is one of the tragedies we have seen a lot in the Mediterranean, it is the first time for the Swedish crew and the Swedish ship and unfortunately it is one of many in total." CONTAINER CARRYING BODIES BEING LOWERED BY CRANE FROM SHIP MEDICAL STAFF VARIOUS OF CONTAINER BEING LOADED ONTO VEHICLE VEHICLE DRIVING AWAY
- Embargoed: 11th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Italy
- Country: Italy
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA85DAORXCNGUD5A5Q4F2JNEZZH
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Hundreds of migrants disembarked the Swedish coastguard vessel the Poseidon on Thursday night (August 27) in the Sicilian port of Palermo.
The bodies of 52 migrants were discovered in the hold of a boat where many of the migrants were rescued, believed to have died after breathing in petrol fumes, according to survivors.
Those who were saved were among the more than 3,000 who were rescued by several ships on Wednesday (August 26).
Swedish Coastguard Communications Officer, Mattias Lindholm, explained what had happened as the Poseidon arrived at the scene for the rescue.
"We were requested to go to a rubber boat in the high sea outside the coast of Libya with 130 persons onboard. Ten minutes after we approached the rubber boat we got visual site of a wooden boat, very close," Lindholm explained.
"We had to give priority to the rubber boat since it was in bad condition. After one hour we could proceed to the wooden boat with approximately 500 people onboard. We could bring it along side the Poseidon to make it easier for the migrants to go onboard," he said.
"We saw some hatches on the wooden deck with people below. Once we could open the hatches enough they started to come out of course. And once we looked down we discovered bodies that we could count 52. The atmosphere below deck was really bad, the level of oxygen was very low, the area was overcrowded and it is not what we expected in a humane way to travel," Lindholm said.
"This is one of the tragedies we have seen a lot in the Mediterranean, it is the first time for the Swedish crew and the Swedish ship and unfortunately it is one of many in total" he said.
In what is becoming almost a regular occurrence, the bodies were lowered from the deck of the Poseidon in a white container and driven away from the port.
As many as 50 refugees were found dead in a parked lorry in Austria on Thursday, and another migrant ship sank off Libya, deepening a crisis that is overwhelming Europe and presenting new tragedies by the day.
Tens of thousands of people, mainly from Africa and the Middle East, have attempted to cross the Mediterranean Sea this year in the hope of reaching Europe, often dangerously packed into small vessels that were never designed to travel such distance. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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