The blue trawler boat was packed with people, with waves lapping its sides. The water swirled and foamed like a roaring beast. There was panic onboard.
And suddenly, the boat jerked and slipped deep beneath the waves.
The somber story of how 750 migrants went down with a rickety boat that capsized near Greece is widely known as one of the most powerful shipwrecks of the Mediterranean. But for most of these different people, they had no choice but to come onto the boat.
For Thaer Khalid al-Rahal, the impetus was cancer. His 4-year-old son Khalid’s leukemia diagnosis came early. Their family had been settled at a Jordanian refugee camp, waiting for resettlement after fleeing Syria’s war. However, when doctors said that Khalid needed a bone-marrow transplant, it was clear that the surgery was something that even the United Nations’ funds couldn’t cover. Khalid’s father felt that he must reach Europe to earn money and save his son’s life.
For Matloob Hussain, 42, the impetus started when he was kicked out of Greece and sent to Pakistan, where his salary was not enough to support him and his 20 extended family members.
“Europe doesn’t understand,” said his brother Adiil Hussain, interviewed in Greece. “We don’t leave because we want to. There is simply nothing for us in Pakistan.”
The trawler that had capsized left the city of Tobruk on June 8th. 104 survivors reached the mainland, while 82 bodies had been recovered by people, dead. The rest had been killed outright by the sea.
Some of the people on the trawler were attempting to earn money in Europe in order to save those back home. Some were families, escaping war. Half of the travelers were under 18 years old.
Half of the passengers are believed to have been Pakistanis. Of the 104 survivors, there were 47 Syrian, 43 Egyptian, 12 Pakistani and two Palestinian.
While Rahal was waiting in Libya, he talked to his wife every day. He worried about Khalid, while Khalid kept asking when he could see his father again. “I’ll manage to get the money,” he said on voice mail.
On the morning of June 14th, news of the trawler’s collapse leaked out. Many families tried not to think of the possibility that their relatives onboard had not made it.
Matloob Hussain had not been seen since the wreck. Adiil, his brother, came looking for him. Khalid had been asking for his father, but his mother did not know how to break the news to him.
And suddenly, the boat jerked and slipped deep beneath the waves.
The somber story of how 750 migrants went down with a rickety boat that capsized near Greece is widely known as one of the most powerful shipwrecks of the Mediterranean. But for most of these different people, they had no choice but to come onto the boat.
For Thaer Khalid al-Rahal, the impetus was cancer. His 4-year-old son Khalid’s leukemia diagnosis came early. Their family had been settled at a Jordanian refugee camp, waiting for resettlement after fleeing Syria’s war. However, when doctors said that Khalid needed a bone-marrow transplant, it was clear that the surgery was something that even the United Nations’ funds couldn’t cover. Khalid’s father felt that he must reach Europe to earn money and save his son’s life.
For Matloob Hussain, 42, the impetus started when he was kicked out of Greece and sent to Pakistan, where his salary was not enough to support him and his 20 extended family members.
“Europe doesn’t understand,” said his brother Adiil Hussain, interviewed in Greece. “We don’t leave because we want to. There is simply nothing for us in Pakistan.”
The trawler that had capsized left the city of Tobruk on June 8th. 104 survivors reached the mainland, while 82 bodies had been recovered by people, dead. The rest had been killed outright by the sea.
Some of the people on the trawler were attempting to earn money in Europe in order to save those back home. Some were families, escaping war. Half of the travelers were under 18 years old.
Half of the passengers are believed to have been Pakistanis. Of the 104 survivors, there were 47 Syrian, 43 Egyptian, 12 Pakistani and two Palestinian.
While Rahal was waiting in Libya, he talked to his wife every day. He worried about Khalid, while Khalid kept asking when he could see his father again. “I’ll manage to get the money,” he said on voice mail.
On the morning of June 14th, news of the trawler’s collapse leaked out. Many families tried not to think of the possibility that their relatives onboard had not made it.
Matloob Hussain had not been seen since the wreck. Adiil, his brother, came looking for him. Khalid had been asking for his father, but his mother did not know how to break the news to him.
