Lampedusa boat disaster: Government finds out if Ghanaians are involved
The government has directed the Ghana Mission in Italy to ascertain whether or not Ghanaians were among the victims of the boat disaster off the southern island of Lampedusa.
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Consequently, officials of the Ghana Mission in Italy have started talks with the Italian authorities to visit the disaster scene to identify Ghanaian nationals.
The boat which was reportedly from Libya was believed to be carrying more than 500 migrants, mainly from Eritrea and Somalia, when it caught fire and sank off Lampedusa last Thursday.
Around 120 people were rescued and more than 100 bodies brought to shore, including women and children. Many more migrants are still missing as coastguard and frogmen searched for corpses.
A deputy minister of Information and Media Relations, Mr Felix Ofosu Kwakye, told the Daily Graphic yesterday that since the disaster, the government had taken several measures to find out whether Ghanaians were involved or not.
Therefore, he said, the government would be monitoring the engagement of the Ghanaian officials with the Italian authorities to facilitate the identification process.
He said the government was ready to offer the necessary assistance should any Ghanaian be identified.
Mr Ofosu Kwakye noted that because the movement of the ship was illegal, some of the people involved might be possessing fake identities.
He was, however, confident that the officials would identify Ghanaians, if any.
By Musah Yahaya Jafaru/Daily Graphic/Ghana