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CROTONE – “You would never imagine that heroes like the two guys who got on board that ship and helped people escape could hide behind the people you see every day.” This was stated by the provincial commander of the Crotone Guardia di Finanza, Colonel Emilio Fiora, when talking about his boys injured in the explosion of the boat loaded with migrants in which three people died. It could have been a much more serious budget if there had not been two soldiers from the Crotone Guardia di Finanza naval group who have made it possible to rescue the largest number of people.
There were twenty-one aboard the old and rickety sailing ship with which they arrived in Italy from the Turkish shores. Three people, a woman, a man and a child, all of African descent, have died and one is still missing after the ship exploded shortly after 12 noon on Sunday, August 30. An explosion was felt until the beaches of the coast of Crotone still full of tourists.
On the ship, intercepted at night off the Calabrian coast near Sellia Marina – according to figures published by the Crotone prefecture – there were 34 people: thirteen of them had managed to land on the beach in the municipality of Catanzaro. However, the ship, with the rest of the migrants on board, had made its way to Crotone escorted by a naval unit of the Guardia di Finanza. During the trip, however, due to causes under investigation, the sailboat’s engine caught fire. On board were two financiers with the task of governing it. It was they, despite the flames on board, who allowed most of the migrants to be saved by letting them pass in the patrol boats of the Port and Financial Authority that had arrived seeking assistance after the fire alarm. The two financiers, however, were hit by the blast along with other migrants who later ended up in the water. Some of the migrants also helped the financier who was injured in the leg to stay afloat.
The rescue was immediate. Five injured migrants were recovered from the sea and transferred with Coast Guard patrol boats to the port of Le Castella, where the Prefecture had organized relief efforts using the Suem 118, Red Cross and Mercy ambulances. Two of the migrants, who had very serious burns, were airlifted to Catanzaro hospital, while three others were taken to Crotone hospital. Hospital where financial patients are also hospitalized: one suffered a broken leg and the other a foot. Twelve other migrants were transferred to Cara.
The SAR raids, also carried out thanks to the aerial vehicles of the Treasury Police and the Coast Guard, allowed the discovery of three still unidentified lifeless bodies: the woman and the child had serious burns, while the man had injuries. lacerated bruises. probably caused by the power of the explosion. The searches continued throughout the afternoon as, according to the estimate, one person is still missing. The ship’s wreck has sunk, but divers will inspect it for other trapped people.
The Crotone Public Ministry opened a file against unknown persons for complicity in illegal immigration and for death as a result of another crime. Deputy Prosecutor Pasquale Festa will have to decide whether to organize the autopsy examination of the bodies found.
