Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/193056
4 News maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 16 OCTOBER 2013 PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MANGION Boat tragedy tears fam MIRIAM DALLI IT'S a hot October day – the like of which only a country like Malta can offer. The atmosphere at the Hal Far open centre is quiet, as small groups of men and women sit huddled quietly together on the grounds in the sun, eating their lunch. The younger ones walk around, hands tucked into pockets and listening to music on their mobile phones or MP4s. A number of the migrants at the open centre are Syrian asylum seekers who were brought to Malta on Saturday morning. Among them are Mohammed Al Chami, 34, and his daughter Lamar, aged 5. The father and daughter had left Libya on Thursday, together with the mother, Taghrid Muhriz, and Lamar's twin sister, Sham. They were on the same boat that was shipwrecked in the Maltese search and rescue region – a tragic incident that has claimed the life of at least 30 persons. But while Mohammed and Lamar were brought to Malta, there has Syrian refugees rescued at sea by AFM last weekend so far been no news of Taghrid and Sham. Both mother and daughter have almond-shaped brown eyes and brown hair. Taghrid is 33 years old and pregnant. Taghrid's sister and brother, who live in Norway, have embarked on a frantic search for the mother and daughter, and have remained in constant contact with Mohammed ever since. I meet Mohammed and Lamar in one of the rooms at the open centre. The room is shabby and too warm, and a security officer, who also acts as a translator, offers to bring in a fan. There is only one chair, and the little one and myself sit on the windowsill. As we wait, Lamar keeps looking up and smiling at her father, who in turn pats her head and holds her hand. Despite what she has endured, the little girl is full of energy and is a source of hope for her heartbroken father. "I don't want anything from this life except to see my wife and my daughter. My wife is my fire… my eyes. And I can feel that she is still alive," he tells me, the tears starting to well up. And he starts recounting his journey – paying $2,300 to flee Libya and saving Lamar's life at sea. The Al Chamis fled the war-torn country of Syria in search of a better life for their children. For three months they lived in Libya, until an opportunity to leave the country cropped up. To get on board the ship, the asylum seekers had to walk into the sea, the water reaching up to their necks. Death toll in migrants' boat tragedy c JURGEN BALZAN CLAIMS by survivors of Friday's shipwreck off Lampedusa that the boat was carrying around 400 persons could be correct, the Colonel at the head of the AFM Operations Squadron said. Government and AFM statements put the number of migrants on board the boat that capsized 60 nautical miles south of Lampedusa at 250 of which around 50 persons were thought to be dead or missing. However, Colonel Claudio Spiteri told MaltaToday that the army based its estimate on the images captured by the AFM aircraft involved in the reconnaissance operation. As confirmed by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday, the dewath toll of the incident could range anywhere between 50 and 200. Contrary to initial reports, survivors who spoke to MaltaToday at Mater Dei Hospital explained that the boat which capsized on Friday was carrying between 400 and 450 persons, including around 100 chil- dren. He said that the images taken by the Hawker Beech King Air B200 maritime patrol aircraft only showed the migrants who were on the upper decks of the boat before it capsized. "For all we know, the lower decks could have been packed, as we have