Diary from Pozzallo #4

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20 June 2018

At 10:15 pm yesterday, 19 June 2018, the Diciotti ship of the Italian Cost Guard docked at the Port of Pozzallo. Previously, 11 people had already been disembarked for their worsening conditions (1 TB patient, 4 pregnant women and 6 minors). People started to get off the ship at about 1:10 am: the first to leave the Diciotti was the body of an unidentified man. Six probably pregnant women (including a minor) and a man with fuel burns were immediately transported to the hospital. Among the 519 people on board there were also the 41 survivors of the last 12 June shipwreck. A. and E., 2 twin sisters aged 19, told MEDU team that there were 117 people on that dinghy that was overturned and that about 70 people died, including their third sister. This same number of casualties has also been confirmed by other people. Surely we can say that the many days spent in the sea have exacerbated migrants physical and psychological distress, while post-traumatic symptoms have been detected in most of the survivors, often in a state of shock. From the collected stories emerge the possible presence of a newborn and his mother among the missing at sea because of the shipwreck mentioned above. The MEDU team met victims of torture, families and unaccompanied minors including an 8-year-old Eritrean child.
Witnessed by Medu Team at the Pozzallo Hotspot on the 20th of March 2018

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