The relatives of victims and survivors of the February 26, 2023 Steccato di Cutro shipwreck will sue the government for allegedly failing to rescue the migrant boat in distress and for damages suffered, a family member said during a press conference on the first anniversary of the tragedy on Monday.
Lawyer Stefano Bertone, who together with Marco Bova and Enrico Calabrese is assisting about 50 families and some survivors, said the lawsuit will be filed once the criminal investigation coordinated by the Crotone Public Prosecutor's Office has been completed and it will be against the Premier's Office and the interior and economy ministries.
It may also be extended to the European Union border agency Frontex, Bertone added.
Earlier in the day at least 100 people including relatives of the 94 migrants and refugees including 35 children who perished when their boat broke apart on rocks in rough seas just off the coast after five days' sailing from Turkey, survivors and local residents gathered on the beach at 4 am to remember the tragedy that sparked a public outcry in Italy amid claims of negligent delays by the coast guard and finance police in going out to seato rescue the boat despite alleged evidence that it was indistress.
It also spurred the right-wing government of Premier GiorgiaMeloni to introduce new measures further clamping down on humantrafficking and irregular migration in general as part of ongoing efforts to make good on an election campaign pledge to bring down sea arrivals to Italy.
For the commemoration 35 soft toys - one for each child victim-were arranged in a circle on the beach, with a white T-shirtbearing the code Kr46M0, used to indicate a newborn baby victim, in the centre.
There were also 94 candles to light the darkness.
Eighty people survived the disaster and several bodies are believed to still be missing.
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