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VALLETA/TRIPOLI. — Syrian refugees who survived after their boat capsized off Malta in the latest disaster in the Mediterranean say they were fired on by warring trafficking gangs as they set out on their perilous journey from Libya. Thirty-three people perished after the boat sank on Friday, a week after another shipwreck off Italy left at least 359 dead, prompting Malta to warn that the Mediterranean was becoming “a cemetery”.
The boat, carrying up to 400 migrants, mostly Syrians, left the Libyan port of Zwara on Thursday, just 60 kilometres (37 miles) from the Tunisian border. Survivors said Libyan militiamen shot wildly at their boat, leaving several people dead and causing the vessel to take on water and sink.
Syrian national Mohammed (34), broke down in tears as he recalled his desperate search for his missing pregnant wife and seven-year-old daughter after he and his five-year-old girl managed to reach safety.
Mohammed told AFP he had paid a total of US$4,800 for the trip to seek a better life in Europe, crossing through Egypt to Libya.
“When we got on the boat, Libyan militia put their machine guns to our heads and demanded more money. I had US$5,000 and they took this too,” Mohammed said from a detention camp in Malta.
He said the Libyan gunmen followed them for four or five hours.
“All of a sudden, they started shooting at us and the boat”. — AFP.
Online Reporter