Refugee boat accident in September 2014
In the refugee boat accident in September 2014 , more than 480 people probably drowned in the Mediterranean . On September 10, 2014, members of a gang of smugglers rammed a refugee boat 300 nautical miles southeast of Malta on its way from Libya to Malta or Italy . With presumably over 480 deaths, it was the largest shipwreck on the Mediterranean in 50 years. The International Organization for Migration reported from witnesses that the boat left the Egyptian port city of Damiette in early September 2014 . Around 500 Syrians, Palestinians, Egyptians and Sudanese were on board .
On September 10, 2014, according to witnesses, human traffickers in two ships overtook the boat. These would have required that the migrants transfer to their ships. There was a dispute between the smugglers and the refugees when the boat people were to be forced to transfer to the even smaller, barely ocean-going ships. The Egyptian smugglers rammed the ship with over 500 refugees on board and sank it. Three survivors from Palestine reported that their ship sank immediately. Many people died because they were no longer able to escape from the wrecked ship. According to witness reports, a refugee tried to hold on to the boat of the tugs so as not to drown, after which they cut off his hands.
The actual number of people who lost their lives is unclear. The three surviving Palestinian refugees spoke of more than 300 dead. The public prosecutor in Italy assumes more than 400 deaths. Until the shipwreck in the Mediterranean on April 19, 2015, this would have been the largest shipwreck in the Mediterranean for over 50 years.
Rescue and investigation
Only 13 people could be saved. Other sources speak of only nine survivors. Two survivors were taken out of the water by a freighter flying the Panamanian flag and taken to the Sicilian city of Pozzallo . The remaining seven survivors of the incident off Malta were carried on other ships to Crete , to other destinations in Greece and to Malta . The Italian Coast Guard and Navy moved out to rescue survivors as part of Operation Mare Nostrum . At the scene of the accident, bodies were searched for about a week.
Italian prosecutors worked with Egyptian and Maltese authorities to investigate the incident.