Italian report suggests 27 Tunisian boats sank, around 1,000 dead in storm Harry

The Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported on Monday that at least 27 out of 29 boats that set off from the coast of Tunisia sank during storm Harry which struck the Mediterranean Sea last January, leaving hundreds of migrants dead.   

Earlier, the Italian coastguard estimated that about 380 people were lost on eight boats that never reached Italy. Non-governmental organisations, however, say the death toll could be at least 1,000.

According to the report on the newspaper’s website, refugees in Libya said that at least 29 iron boats, called “floating coffins,” left Tunisia, but only two reached Lampedusa or returned to land.

Storm Harry hit the region between 19 and 21 January, bringing waves as high as 16 metres. The Italian NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans described the events at sea as a “massacre.”

Laura Marmorale, president of Mediterranea Saving Humans, told the newspaper: “The contours of the greatest tragedy in recent years are taking shape along the central Mediterranean routes, and the governments of Italy and Malta remain silent and do nothing.” 

One survivor, Ramadan Conte, a young man from Sierra Leone, said he was on a small boat with 47 others, including his brother, his brother’s wife, and his nephew. None of them survived.

The central Mediterranean route remains one of the most dangerous paths for irregular migration.

READ: Around 50 dead after migrant boat sinks in Mediterranean: Report