As the controversy over immigration rages, both nationally and at the European level, tomorrow we remember the October 3, 2013 shipwreck that occurred a few miles off the island of Lampedusa, which has always been at the center of migrant routes. The terrible shipwreck resulted in 368 confirmed dead, some 20 were declared missing, and another 115 people were rescued, including some 40 minors. The sunken vessel was a Libyan fishing boat of about 20 meters that left the port of Misrata with hundreds of migrants on board, mostly from Eritrea and Ethiopia. The Lampedusa shipwreck is ranked as one of the largest naval disasters to occur in the Mediterranean Sea since the turn of the century. The cause of the shipwreck was the vessel's engines stalling less than a mile from the island's shores, at which point a crew member set a rag on fire, causing smoke that frightened the hundreds of migrants. The displacement of passengers aboard the vessel caused the vessel to capsize and, after turning three times on itself, sink. Salvage, about which there has been no shortage of controversy over the years, was activated around 7 a.m. on October 3. Rescue operations lasted for days, until October 12. For the shipwreck, Khaled Ben-salam, a Tunisian commander of the boat, was sentenced in 2015 to 18 years in prison for multiple manslaughter and, also in 2015, Somali Mouhamud Elmi Muhidin was sentenced to 30 years in prison on charges of being one of the traffickers who organized the voyage. Since 2016, October 3 has become the Day of Remembrance and Reception, under Law 45/2016. The anniversary was established to remember and commemorate all victims of immigration and to promote initiatives to raise awareness and solidarity.
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