Police in Italy are investigating the deaths of 26 African teenagers after their bodies were discovered in the Mediterranean Sea.
The girls aged from 14-18 years are believed to have been Niger and Nigerian migrants who had taken the dangerous voyage to Europe from Libya over the weekend.
Lorena Ciccotti, police chief of Salerno, said that their bodies were found floating near a partially sunken rubber dinghy when rescuers arrived. There were a number of other girls found holding onto the dinghy when help arrived.
(Photo by Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)
Ciccotti told CNN that autopsies would be carried out on the girls’ bodies and that the coroners would be looking to determine if they had been tortured or sexually abused.
This rescue was one of four separate rescues carried out over the weekend in the Mediterranean Sea. A total of 400 people were rescued and brought to the Italian port town of Salerno on board the Spanish ship Cantabria.
AFP reported that the vessel unloaded a “seemingly endless line of black plastic body bags” in Salerno and then places them in coffins.
PAOLO MANZO/NURPHOTO
Authorities say that among those rescued there were 90 women, 52 minors and a week old baby.
Salvatore Malfi, on official in Salerno told reporters that investigators would be looking to see if the girls had been assaulted. He called the incident a tragedy and said police “need to see whether there are suspects to concentrate on or whether the murder inquiry will proceed against persons unknown.”
Malfi said that there were also men on board the boat, sparking interest as to whether or not the women were being trafficked.
There are numerous reasons that migrants seek refuge in Europe, fleeing from war-torn Countries or fleeing from the prospect of sex trafficking and Libya is a notorious ‘jumping-off point’ for migrants.
According to the International Organization for Migration this year alone 2,839 migrants have died on the Mediterranean route. Whilst 150,982 people have made it to European shores, 74% of which are Italian arrivals.
(Photo by Michele Amoruso/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
On Monday, police arrested an Egyptian and a Libyan man accused of human smuggling, however, they were not believed to have had anything to do with the little boat that sunk transporting the African teenagers.
9-Year-Old Books Disneyland Trip After Hacking Dad`s Phone
Ian Wilson was shocked to find himself £1005.92 out of pocket last month, after his nine-year-old daughter Susan went on a shopping spree, without his knowledge. The 53-year-old was sleeping when he says his daughter took his phone and upon guessing his PayPal password went on a spending spree.
Wilson realized what had happened three days later when he noticed the money had been taken from his account. He told MailOnline ‘My immediate thought was that it was fraud so I phoned PayPal who told me the payments had been made from a device they deemed normal for me and did not consider it to be fraud.”
Still none the wiser, Ian decided to go through his phone’s internet history and found the different websites his daughter had used. Ian confronted his daughter who immediately admitted it was her.
‘She was absolutely brokenhearted and very remorseful. She had no idea what she was doing, I could not even punish her for it,’ Ian said.
Apparently Susan booked the flights and hotel through Bravofly and booked the tours via German-based site Getyourguide.
“I don’t know how I did it. I just like messing about with Dad’s phone. I don’t know where Paris is or what the Eiffel Tower is,” Susan says.
PICTURE: DISNEYLAND PARIS
Wilson tried to rectify the situation by contacting his bank, PayPal and the travel companies concerned to get his money back, however, it was not that easy. He claims that they had refused to refund him after saying that no fraud had been committed.
“They just all washed their hands of it. They’re acting disgracefully. They’ll see the flight and none of the tours were taken up,” Ian told the Sun newspaper.
PICTURE: GLEN MINIK
Thankfully, PayPal has since returned the money to Mr. Wilson as “a goodwill gesture” calling it friendly fraud which apparently happens all the time. A PayPal spokesperson said “Young people are very savvy and it’s important that we keep our devices and accounts safe.”
Having learned from his mistake, Ian is urging parents to be more caution when it comes to their phones. “Have a pin on your phone. I didn’t because I’ve never needed one but now I do,” he says. He also advises parents to make sure their children do not have access to their internet devices either.
Thankfully what could have proved rather costly for the Wilson family has been sorted and they will keep their family holidays to their usual Skegness for now. Disneyland will have to wait for another time.
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