Traffickers ‘laughed’ as they capsized boat full of refugees (killing 500+)

[cali]

I haven't seen this story posted, though it may have been. It's horrific.

SURVIVORS of Europe’s most deadly migrant shipwreck in years have described the horrifying moment traffickers capsized their boat and left them to drown.

Fresh witness testimony confirmed around 500 people drowned after their boat sank off Malta on Wednesday, including up to 100 children who had been making the treacherous journey from Egypt to Italy, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.

“After they hit our boat they waited to make sure that it had sunk completely before leaving. They were laughing,” one survivor told the Geneva-based organisation.

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In the incident off Malta, just 10 people survived. Two Palestinians were taken to Italy, two to Malta, while the other six, including a two year-old Syrian girl, were taken to hospital in Crete. The toddler remains in a critical condition.

The Palestinians, aged 27 and 33, told IOM their boat had been intentionally sunk by the people smugglers after the migrants refused to change to a smaller, less seaworthy vessel — a story corroborated by the survivors in Crete.

“A violent argument ensued. The 10 smugglers, said to be Palestinian and Egyptian, began yelling,” the IOM said, citing the latest testimony from Greece.

The traffickers “rammed” the boat which “began to sink immediately, while the smugglers stayed in the area until they were certain that the migrant’s vessel had sunk,” it said.

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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/traffickers-laughed-as-they-capsized-boat-full-of-refugees/story-e6frg6so-1227061354412?nk=a9e71c44b500b67f23266a015d733896

[closeupready]

1. They need to find these murderers and put them away.

Outrageous.