Tragic shipwreck in Lampedusa, the survivors: "You live because there was water and biscuits on the boat"

" We managed to survive because in the drifting boat we found there were four bottles of water and half a tin of biscuits ." The four castaways - three men and a woman, originally from the Ivory Coast and Guinea Konakry - of the boat sunk with 41 dead continue to tell the policemen of the mobile team and the cultural mediators about the stages of the shipwreck.

The small boat, on which there were 45 people, including 3 children, capsized and sank, due to a violent wave, about 6 hours after leaving Sfax. All the migrants - according to the survivors - ended up in the sea.

«When we fell into the water, we scattered into several groups, clinging to what we found . We were all close to ten - they explained - and we were clinging to inner tubes. We stayed for hours, many hours, in the water . Two of our group, we saw them drown, overwhelmed by a wave. When we saw, at such a distance, an iron boat, we began to swim. It wasn't easy, the sea was rough. Some stayed behind and we never saw them again, the 4 of us managed to get on the boat and get on».

The 4 castaways, with psychological support, were interviewed several times by the investigators because there were "gaps" and contradictions in their stories, probably due to the shock, but also to the fear of speaking to the police.

NON-STOP LANDINGS – In the meantime , the landings on Lampedusa continue unabated : 578 migrants arrived only after midnight . 13 of the 15 small boats sighted were rescued by the patrol boats of the Harbor Master's Office and the Guardia di Finanza. There were two landings directly on the mainland: 4 Tunisians arrived at the commercial pier at 2.40 and were blocked by the police; 16 others were traced, however, at 6.20 in front of the police station. The latter claim to have been transhipped on the coast by a Libyan fishing vessel which then set sail again.

Yesterday, there were 14 landings on the island - four of which in Cala Palme, Cala Croce, Cala Galera and Madonnina pier - with a total of 435 people.

In the space of 36 hours more than a thousand migrants arrived , most of whom claim to come from Tunisia.

(Unioneonline/vl)