Nato units left 61 African migrants to die of hunger and thirst
Refugees from Libya reach Lampedusa. A Nato ship failed
to rescue a boat in trouble – leaving 63 people on board to
die. Photograph: Francesco Malavolta/EPA
Boat trying to reach Lampedusa was left to drift in Mediterranean for 16 days, despite alarm being raised.
Dozens of African migrants were left to die in the Mediterranean after a number of European and Nato military units apparently ignored their cries for help, the Guardian has learned. A boat carrying 72 passengers, including several women, young children and political refugees, ran into trouble in late March after leaving Tripoli for the Italian island of Lampedusa. Despite alarms being raised with the Italian coastguard and the boat making contact with a military helicopter and a Nato warship, no rescue effort was attempted. All but 11 of those on board died from thirst and hunger after their vessel was left to drift in open waters for 16 days. "Every morning we would wake up and find more bodies, which we would leave for 24 hours and then throw overboard," said Abu Kurke, one of only nine survivors. "By the final days, we didn't know ourselves … everyone was either praying, or dying."