"There was a woman down the back, whose body got stuck halfway out of a porthole, while she was holding her son ... she broke our hearts ."
This is the story of Tom Zreika , one of the rescuers who intervened in the sea area off the coast of Lebanon , where on April 24 a boat carrying dozens of migrants sank .
The recovery operations, which began in recent days under the formal coordination of the Lebanese Navy, were organized with months of delay by a private initiative, with a fundraiser managed in part by a network of families of the victims, residing mainly in Australia. .
After some attempts, during which the remains of some people were brought to the surface and unraveled under the eyes of the rescuers, the Lebanese navy informed the Australian non-governmental organization AusRelief of the impossibility of continuing for unspecified "security risks" .
The approximately 30 bodies not recovered, including that of the young woman and her son, are therefore destined to remain at the bottom of the sea.
(Unioneonline / lf)