The prefect's office in Crotone said
on Thursday it has "ensured assistance to the survivors and
families of the victims since the day of the (26 February)
shipwreck" on the southern Calabria coast in which 72 refugees
and migrants are known to have died and around 30 more are
believed to be missing.
80 people survived the shipwreck, which occurred after the
overcrowded fishing boat the group was travelling on ran aground
and broke up in rough seas only a short distance from the coast
after 4 days' sailing from Turkey.
The prefect's office has also "ensured the necessary support to
local administrations for the purpose of burial of the bodies or
their transfer to other locations in the country or abroad," it
said.
"For expenses related to funeral arrangements and immediate
assistance, coverage has been ensured using Interior Ministry
funding."
On Wednesday the Crotone prefect's office intervened on behalf
of the families of the victims to ensure that the bodies of
their loved ones would be transferred to the Muslim cemetery in
Bologna only with their consent.
Earlier the Interior Ministry had said all the bodies would be
transferred to Bologna as a "temporary and not permanent"
solution "to give immediate dignity" to the dead.
The families staged a peaceful protest outside the chapel of
rest set up at a local sports centre calling for the transfer to
be postponed so they could apply for the bodies of their loved
ones to be returned to their countries of origin.
In all, the relatives of 25 victims have agreed for their loved
ones to be moved to the Emilian regional capital.
The bodies of the 17 victims for whom the families have
requested transfer to Afghanistan will remain in Crotone until
bureaucratic problems have been overcome.
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