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