6 Bangladeshi survivors sick
At least six people among the 54 Bangladeshi survivors of the boat capsize in the Mediterranean Sea are sick but out of danger, says a Bangladeshi diplomat.
“They had swum up to 15 kilometres. Some were injured while some fainted later. So, they are now going through some form of physical and psychological trauma,” ASM Ashraful Islam, counsellor (labour) of Bangladesh embassy in Libya, told The Daily Star over the phone yesterday.
However, Ashraful, who is leading a Bangladesh mission to provide medical and humanitarian support to the migrants, said the sick were given treatment.
He also confirmed that 24 Bangladeshis died in the Mediterranean as two rickety boats sank off the coast of Libya on Thursday.
“Of the 78 Bangladeshis who were on board, 24 were confirmed dead,” he said.
The dead include Azad, Shupan, Swapan of Shariatpur; Gaziul of Keraniganj; Ziaur Rahman of Jessore; Islam and Faruk of Comilla; Karim of Chittagong; Zakir of Satkhira; Mahmud of Narayanganj, Faiz of Madaripur, Badal and Babul of Tangail and Mofiz of Rajbari.
Among the deceased, two children are Rimat Abdul Azim, 5, Raisa Abdul Azim (eight months old), and Rubel, Shahabuddin, Sohel and Salahuddin of Noakhali. The name of the districts of four other victims -- Abul Bashar, 47, Ramzan Ali, 58, Sanwara Khatun, 42, and Yusuf -- could not be known immediately.
Of the 54 survivors, 11 children and women of four families were kept at two Bangladeshi expatriates' houses in Tripoli, and the other 43 people were in a Tripoli detention centre, said Ashraful.
The labour counsellor said the Bangladesh mission was in touch with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on the repatriation of the survivors.
“Many of them, however, don't want to return to Bangladesh. So far, only 15 of the survivors have opted to come back home,” Ashraful said.
Two vessels with some 500 migrants from Africa and Asia sank after leaving Zuwara off the Libyan coast for Italy, amid internal conflicts among rival governments in the North African country.
At least 198 people were rescued, 30 to 40 remained missing and 112 were confirmed dead, according to CNN.
Hundreds of migrants have attempted to reach Europe by land and sea. So far this year, at least 2,373 have died as of this week, as per the IOM.
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