The Lampedusa disaster: the bodies arrive in Sicily. Family members wait to learn of the final destination

It ended late yesterday afternoon, the transfer of the first coffins of over 300 victims of the devastating shipwreck of 3 October, transferred from Lampedusa to Porto Empedocle on an Italian Navy ship. Here we publish a number of photos showing the loading of coffins onto trucks, before a crowd of about 300 people, among which there stood also the families of the deceased migrants, who had wanted to pay tribute to the victims of the worst shipwreck in our times.

The remains have been placed temporarily at the cemetery of Gatta in Agrigento, awaiting allocation to the Sicilian towns Agrigento, Raffadali, Siculiana, Caltanissetta and San Cataldo, that have all made burial grounds available in their respective cemeteries.

The non-profit organisation Borderline Sicily calls on the institutions, in particular the prefecture of Agrigento, to make public the final destinations of the bodies in order to permit the relatives of the victims to participate in the funeral ceremonies.

The Editors of Borderline Sicily Onlus

Translation by Sally Jane Hole

Manlio Fiore's photos