21 Albanian migrants killed when boat sinks on way to Italy
TIRANA, Albania -- An inflatable speedboat packed with Albanian migrants trying to sneak into Italy sank in up to 20-foot high waves and strong winds off Albania's coast, killing 21 people, officials said Saturday.
Eleven others survived after the boat sank off the Karaburun peninsula near Vlora, 85 miles southwest of Tirana. Two people were listed in serious condition, police spokesman Floriani Serjani said in a statement. No one was believed to be missing.
Police arrested two of the survivors believed to be migrant smugglers. Two high-ranking Albanian police officers who are related to one of the suspects also were suspended while authorities investigate whether they were involved.
Survivor Gentian Kurtmetaj, in his 20s, said the passengers in the 43-foot-long boat had paid about $2,300 each for the journey across the Adriatic Sea, which normally takes 3 to 3½ hours. The average monthly salary in Albania is $200.
"We were promised jobs in Brindisi (Italy)," he told reporters.
"It was very cold, and the victims froze to death."
Most of the passengers were from the northern districts of Shkodra and Malesi e Madhe, among Albania's poorest areas. Three women and 18 men were among the dead, said Lt. Col. Antonio Passaro, a spokesman for NATO in Albania.
Fran Prenga, who lost his wife and younger brother, said he and his family decided to risk the trip after the Italian government refused to renew their visas so they could return to their agriculture jobs.
"That's why we decided to undertake this crazy trip. Unless we went to Italy, we would lose our jobs," he said, adding that he had planned to make a similar trip later.
Albanian police monitoring the sea with radar Friday evening spotted the boat and called Italian and NATO authorities for help, knowing the inflatable craft could not withstand the rough weather.
In Rome, Ferdinando Lolli of the Italian Coast Guard general command's press office said "the dinghy was full of water, and all these people aboard and the bad weather caused this accident."
Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said the tragedy sparks "so much human pity for the victims and as much abhorrence for the organizers of the voyage."
Albanian police arrested Albert Alliu and Artur Rrokaj, both Vlora residents, believed to have organized the illegal odyssey. Rrokaj's father is the chief of the anti-terror office in the northern town of Shkodra, and a close relative is the Vlora traffic police chief.
They were both suspended while the prosecutor's office investigates whether they were involved, Serjani said.
Marko Bello, a government minister, told the private television station Top Channel that suspects would be charged with murder and collaboration in murder, charges that could lead to life sentences.
The government will pay for the bodies to be returned to their families and buried, Bello added.