Several entities continue to investigate the disappearance of eleven migrants who were traveling on board the boat located on October 11 one hundred miles from Mallorca, between Menorca and Sardinia, and in which three other occupants were rescued and were able to tell what happened. has passed. The trip lasted at least 11 days and the intention of the group, composed entirely of young Algerians, was to reach Formentera. However, the ship ended up deviating several kilometers northeast of its destination in circumstances that remain to be clarified.
This is what the three survivors – two aged 15 and one aged 21 – conveyed to human rights defender and founder of the Caminando Fronteras collective, Helena Maleno, who was in Mallorca when emergency services reported the discovery of the boat and which is currently located. in contact with the families of the victims.
Caminando Fronteras and organizations like the Red Cross are carrying out what is called “reconstruction” of the boat. In other words, they try to identify their missing occupants to find out what happened to them and, in the best case scenario, locate their bodies and attempt to return them to their families. “They have the right to know the truth”, underlines Maleno to Europa Press. For now, they have been able to name the three who saved their lives, because they were undocumented.
“The fact that there were survivors allowed relatives to tell what happened. Often no one can tell,” explains the founder of Caminando Fronteras. For example, he points out, the oldest survivor knew one of the missing people and from the hospital, he agreed to speak to his family “even if he had to relive the trauma.”
The events occurred on the 11th around 1 p.m., when a French-flagged sailboat sailing in the area reported to the French rescue services the rescue of three migrants who were in a boat one hundred miles east of Majorca in French waters between Menorca. and Sardinia. One of them was in serious condition and the other two were in less serious condition.
The service, in turn, requested the collaboration of Salvamento Marítimo de Balears to evacuate these three people, already on board the private vessel.
The maritime organization’s helicopter immediately went to the scene and rescued the three young people, the oldest aged 21 and the two youngest aged 15. Already on the ground are two ambulances, one for advanced life support and another for basic life support. they were waiting for the three occupants. After notifying the hospital, emergency services transferred the adult in serious condition and the two others in less serious condition.
The three occupants, according to information provided by the Civil Guard and the Government Delegation to the Balearic Islands, stated that the boat left Algeria approximately 20 days ago and that it was carrying a still undetermined number of people who had lost their identity. .life during the trip.
After that, the search for their bodies was activated with the help of a French rescue plane, the work of which, however, proved unsuccessful. No bodies were found on board the boat. The emergency services reported the event to the Civil Guard, National Police, 112 and 061, who, for their part, activated the Son Espases helipad to receive the three rescued people.
