Lampedusa, Italy – Every year, Refaat Hazima visits the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, where tragedy struck his family 10 years ago.
On October 10, 2013, Hazima and his wife Feryal el-Saleh paid $6,000 to board a blue wooden vessel in the Libyan city of Zuwara with their three sons and more than 400 passengers, mostly fellow Syrians fleeing the war-ravaged country.
The boat left under the cover of darkness at about 10pm and sailed at full speed, before coming under attack from Libyan armed men.
“They opened fire against us,” Hazima told Al Jazeera. “A bullet hit a pregnant woman and killed her.”
The vessel sailed on as water gushed into the hull through bullet holes.
As it reached international waters on the morning of October 11, a Syrian doctor, who identified himself as Mohamed Jammo, placed the first distress call to the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (IMRCC). It was 12:39pm.
Post from www.aljazeera.com