2014 Malta migrant shipwreck explained

In September 2014, it was announced by the International Organization for Migration that a ship sank off the Malta coast on September 11, 2014, killing around 500 migrants.^{[1] [2]} There were eleven survivors.^{[3] [4]} The ship left Damietta, Egypt, on September 6 and sank five days later on September 11. Two Palestinian survivors of the wreck accuse the traffickers of intentionally sinking the vessel after the refugees would not agree to transfer to a different ship.^[5]

A similar tragedy occurred on 14 June 2023 in the Ionian Sea off the coast of Pylos, Greece, when a dilapidated and overloaded fishing trawler carrying as many as 750 people capsized and sank resulted in the drowning death of hundreds of men, women, and children who were asylum seekers^{[6] [7] [8]} from Pakistan, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt.^[9] Among the 104 people rescued, there were no women and children. The Hellenic Coast Guard search and rescue operation recovered 92 bodies with 500 considered to be missing and presumed dead.^{[10] [11]}

See also

• Timeline of the European migrant crisis
• Doaa Al Zamel (one of the eleven survivors)

Notes and References

1. Web site: More than 200 feared dead after migrant boat sinks off Libyan coast . . 15 September 2014 . 15 September 2014.
2. Web site: Malta boat sinking 'leaves 500 dead' - IOM . BBC News . 15 September 2014 . 15 September 2014.
3. News: 31 March 2017 . 'I had a feeling of death before me': A refugee's survival story of 4 days floating at sea . .
4. News: Solel . Hannah . 2017-01-20 . A Hope More Powerful than the Sea by Melissa Fleming — on the refugee crisis . Financial Times . 2022-08-21.
5. News: 500 Feared Dead as Migrant Boat Sinks Off Malta. NBC. 15 September 2014. 15 September 2014.
6. News: en . Jullien . Maud . María . Martín . Survivors of the shipwreck in the Mediterranean accuse Greek authorities: ‘The Coast Guard towed us at high speed, and we capsized’. . 19 August 2023 . 30 June 2023 .
7. News: Greece migrant boat disaster: Mapping a tragedy on coast guard's watch . Washington Post . 5 July 2023. 17 August 2023 .
8. News: Ναυάγιο στην Πύλο: "Δεν έχουμε ξαναζήσει τέτοια τραγωδία στη χώρα μας" see . Shipwreck in Pylos: "We have never experienced such a tragedy in our country" . . 15 June 2023.
9. News: 0028-792X. Niarchos. Nicolas. Why Hundreds Drowned Off the Coast of Greece. The New Yorker. 19 August 2023 . 26 June 2023 .
10. News: Smith . Helena . Henley . Jon . 15 June 2023 . Greece refugee shipwreck: rescuers scour sea for survivors . . 15 June 2023.
11. News: Ναυάγιο στην Πύλο: Ανασύρθηκε άλλη μία σορός - Στους 82 οι νεκροί. 2023-06-20. 2023-06-20. el. AMNA.