Ninety-seven people have died – including 24 children – after a boat full of asylum seekers heading from Lebanon to Europe capsized in the Mediterranean.
Speaking from a hospital bed, still in shock, Ibrahim Mansour, one of 20 people who survived one of the deadliest boat disasters in the Eastern Mediterranean, says he can’t forgive himself for not saving others.
More than 150 people were on board the small boat that sailed from crisis-hit Lebanon on Wednesday morning, with the hope of reaching Italy for a better life.
Four hours after the boat set sail, the engine stopped. Mansour, 29, recounted to Al Jazeera that those on board called the smuggler on shore, but he said: “If you come back, we will shoot you.
“We also called 112 to seek help from Lebanese authorities, but no help came.”
Due to the high waves, the boat lost control and capsized off the Syrian port of Tartous, some 50km (30 miles) north of Tripoli in Lebanon. In a matter of moments, 100 people died, Mansour said. He saw “bodies everywhere”.
Those who survived were clinging onto the boat that overturned.
“I cry all the time; I’m in shock. I saw bodies and horrible images. My heart hearts,” Mansour said. “I tried to help children and another man; I tried to keep their spirits alive, but I couldn’t. This is hurting me, especially because of the child who was holding onto me before I lost him. They told me he died.”
ALJAZEERA
