A helicopter flew over the boat, threw them bottles of water and packets of cookies. The pilots, dressed as a soldier, motioned for passengers to keep their position and wait for a rescue boat. The helicopter left, but no one came. 16 days later, 61 died.
The Guardian investigation is shattering. The Italians claim to have “informed Malta that the boat was heading for their research and rescue area”. Malta denied having had the slightest contact with the boat. 72 people were on board, including a majority of Ethiopians. Among the 72, there are 20 women and two children, one of whom was barely a year old.
In fuel, water and food, waves and currents made them derive. At some point, they approached an aircraft carrier. They were so close that it is impossible for the aircraft carriers not to see the boat. The migrants saw two planes take off and fly over them at low altitude. They stood on the holding bridge, at arm’s length, the two hungry babies.
No help has come. Unable to direct the boat because of the currents, they were then far from the aircraft carrier. The Gardian has come to the conclusion that it was the French actions Charles de Gaulle who was on site and who did not help rescue the shipwrecked. The French navy categorically denied the claims of the British newspaper.
In France, the non-assistance to a person in danger is liable to five years’ imprisonment and 75,000 euros fine.
The boat, who left Tripoli on March 25, ended up scrapping on the coasts of Zlitan, still in Libya. According to a survivor, every morning the passengers woke up on the corpses of the ones they threw over board 24 hours later.
Only 11 therefore survived hunger and thirst, one died just after stranding. Another survivor ended up dying in prison … The forces of Gaddafi, in fact, arrested them and detained for four days.
