The Maria Sole boat of the Hotel Sole in Lampedusa.
“They told us that there wouldn’t be any kind of problem in Lampedusa and in fact there wasn’t, but we saw with our own eyes all the evil of the time we live in”, they cry, they tremble, they still can’t realize, but they have the clarity to tell “because only if you live it can you understand”. Mina, Ezio, Maria Rita, Nebel, Elena These are just some of the tourists who were on board the Maria Sole boat for a tour of the island on the morning of Wednesday 25 September. An elegant 11 meter boat used exclusively by customers of theSole hotel in Lampedusa. The commander is Captain Franco Ruggiero, 69 years old, who first studied the island from Naples and then came to work there. That morning, after a briefing from the captain with the guests, the Maria Sole heads towards the end of Capo Ponente but during navigation they spot an iron small boat overloaded with people. «A boy with a bucket like the ones children use on the beach was throwing away the water that had entered the boat, a mother held her little girl up high to be noticed» the guests say in unison.
It’s almost 10.50, Captain Franco without hesitation asks his customers to go below deck, there are elderly people who suffer from seasickness. «We immediately called the coast guard and reassured the shipwrecked people by saying that help was on the way», says Ruggiero. The coast guard patrol boats involved in other rescue operations arrive quickly, but in the meantime everything happens. Water continues to enter the boatthese are critical moments. «We see it sinking and so we intervene immediately, we tell them to stay calm, I approach and lower the ladder to allow him to get on board». There is confusion: «Our captain with decision and firmness begins to pull them up, I begin to feel bad in my eyes still that woman who he held his daughter up in the air like a trophy almost as if to say at least save her”, says Elena Begliomini, 67, from Bologna. Unlike the other guests, she has already been to Lampedusa at least 10 times: «And I had never seen a migrant, today I understand much more».
Captain Franco finds himself faced with dozens of arms asking to be grabbed, the Maria Sole can carry a maximum of nine people: «We were about 100 meters from the end of Cala Ponentea terrifying scenario in front of us, before intervening we remained at least 30 meters away, there was a little girl who was shaking, we gave her beach towels, dozens of bottles of water, everything we had. Then another boat, the Jamaica, approached and many of the castaways headed there. We heard screams everywhere. I would like to thank the other crew who attended» adds Franco. Next to him, one of the guests approaches, Mr. Nebel Zeus, 63 years old, from Meda, province of Milan. «I grabbed a little girl who was clinging to her dad who was also grabbing a life jacket, we had already saved about thirty of them, in the meantime we no longer saw one of the newborns and there was a boy who must have been ten years old, he went down in an instant, then we saw him gasping again and then he collapsed again».
It all happened in just a few minutes on a day in which landings on the island proceeded rapidly. The migrants rescued by the Maria Sole and Jamaica were thus transferred to the patrol boats while the Maria Sole docked at Cala Pisana. «We saw that little boy with wide eyes go up and then go back down into the water, that rusty piece of iron where they were traveling cannot be called a boat, these people leave because they are truly desperate. I touched the hand of that little girl who was tremblingI tried not to cry and I gestured to her with my finger to tell her that everything was ok”, says Mina Nava on board the Maria Sole together with her husband Ezio, from Zanica near Bergamo they went to visit Lampedusa for the first time.
None of the guests of the hotel located just behind the Guitgia beach have slept, they want to see and embrace their captain again, to witness the drama they have seen and experienced. «The guests reacted with great emotion and participation, when they were on board they caressed the castaways, I touched the cheeks of a little girl to make sure she was okay. None of us would have ever imagined it”, concludes Captain Franco. He too today with his crew among the fishermen of human lives that Lampedusa generates in the face of indifference.
Commander Franco Ruggiero.
It’s almost 10.50, Captain Franco without hesitation asks his customers to go below deck, there are elderly people who suffer from seasickness. «We immediately called the coast guard and reassured the shipwrecked people by saying that help was on the way», says Ruggiero. The coast guard patrol boats involved in other rescue operations arrive quickly, but in the meantime everything happens. Water continues to enter the boatthese are critical moments. «We see it sinking and so we intervene immediately, we tell them to stay calm, I approach and lower the ladder to allow him to get on board». There is confusion: «Our captain with decision and firmness begins to pull them up, I begin to feel bad in my eyes still that woman who he held his daughter up in the air like a trophy almost as if to say at least save her”, says Elena Begliomini, 67, from Bologna. Unlike the other guests, she has already been to Lampedusa at least 10 times: «And I had never seen a migrant, today I understand much more».
Captain Franco finds himself faced with dozens of arms asking to be grabbed, the Maria Sole can carry a maximum of nine people: «We were about 100 meters from the end of Cala Ponentea terrifying scenario in front of us, before intervening we remained at least 30 meters away, there was a little girl who was shaking, we gave her beach towels, dozens of bottles of water, everything we had. Then another boat, the Jamaica, approached and many of the castaways headed there. We heard screams everywhere. I would like to thank the other crew who attended» adds Franco. Next to him, one of the guests approaches, Mr. Nebel Zeus, 63 years old, from Meda, province of Milan. «I grabbed a little girl who was clinging to her dad who was also grabbing a life jacket, we had already saved about thirty of them, in the meantime we no longer saw one of the newborns and there was a boy who must have been ten years old, he went down in an instant, then we saw him gasping again and then he collapsed again».
A moment of the rescue on board the Maria Sole.
It all happened in just a few minutes on a day in which landings on the island proceeded rapidly. The migrants rescued by the Maria Sole and Jamaica were thus transferred to the patrol boats while the Maria Sole docked at Cala Pisana. «We saw that little boy with wide eyes go up and then go back down into the water, that rusty piece of iron where they were traveling cannot be called a boat, these people leave because they are truly desperate. I touched the hand of that little girl who was tremblingI tried not to cry and I gestured to her with my finger to tell her that everything was ok”, says Mina Nava on board the Maria Sole together with her husband Ezio, from Zanica near Bergamo they went to visit Lampedusa for the first time.
None of the guests of the hotel located just behind the Guitgia beach have slept, they want to see and embrace their captain again, to witness the drama they have seen and experienced. «The guests reacted with great emotion and participation, when they were on board they caressed the castaways, I touched the cheeks of a little girl to make sure she was okay. None of us would have ever imagined it”, concludes Captain Franco. He too today with his crew among the fishermen of human lives that Lampedusa generates in the face of indifference.