“Everywhere I looked, I saw dead people”
I remember waking up in water not knowing what was happening, and I tried to swim but I couldn’t. I started paddling like a dog. The more I paddled, the more I felt I was sinking.
I didn’t see anyone moving; all I saw was lots of bodies floating and none of them moved. I then saw a young man grabbing me hard on my neck. I then understood that we are sinking, both of us, and I had no choice but to fight him to let me go. I looked back and couldn’t see him.
Everywhere I looked I saw dead people or people drowning in front of my eyes. Some were screaming, some praying, some saying their names, who their families are, where in Eritrea they were from, messages to their loved ones. I kept hearing the noises; the sound of screaming and crying, the shouting, the screaming went on and on again. I could see mothers holding up their children till they couldn’t hold them anymore. I cried, looking at the bodies of the people I knew… The worst scene I can remember from that time is the floating bodies of infants, children.
Confused, desperate, I started praying for a miracle. The noises suddenly started disappearing, the voices went fewer and fewer. The sea was quieter, less movement. I could not see anything, and for first time in my life I felt lonely. I thought I was the only one left in the sea. I decided not to look at the dead bodies: By that time, I understood the reason for the quietness was that most had died.
—Fanus is one of the survivors of the Lampedusa tragedy, where 350 people drowned trying to cross the Mediterranean.
