Lampedusa, the child who died in the shipwreck: the mother believed he was safe
#Agrigento
Miriam, a 23-year-old Ivorian woman, will soon have to identify the body of her one and a half-year-old son in the morgue of the Cala Pisana cemetery. Her son died in the sinking of one of the two boats that went down on Saturday in the Sicilian Channel. Out of a total of 57 survivors, 33 are missing and two bodies have been recovered so far. Along with her son’s body, there was also the body of a woman whose husband is currently at the Lampedusa hotspot. Miriam, described as “slender, small, and appearing as if she could break at any moment” by those trying to support her during these very difficult days, no longer has tears left. She has a vacant look and no more strength. The young Ivorian woman was traveling with her son in her arms when the boat, which had departed from Sfax, suddenly sank. For hours and hours, Miriam, in the stormy sea, held her son tightly in her arms. When she could no longer bear it because she was tired and feeling cold, she entrusted him to a young compatriot who was in the water next to her. She wanted to save him, desperately trying to give him a chance at life. When the woman was rescued by the Coast Guard, she was lifted aboard one of the two patrol boats that arrived. Her compatriot was onboard the other rescue vessel. It was only last night that the woman, with all the necessary caution and psychological support, learned that her son had died. Until then, she believed – and explained to cultural mediators – that her son and her compatriot were in another facility or perhaps in the hospital. The woman arrived in Lampedusa on the first patrol boat, while her compatriot arrived about half an hour later on the second one. He still had the lifeless child in his arms. The prosecutor’s office in Agrigento is currently conducting an investigation into the shipwreck.
Lampedusa, il bimbo morto nel naufragio: la madre credeva fosse salvo
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