Shipwreck in the Ionian Sea, little Nalina hugs her aunt again in Calabria

Little Nalina, the 10-year-old girl who survived the shipwreck of the sailing boat she was on together with another seventy migrants shipwrecked off the coast of Calabria, was able to hug a known person again today. In fact, the little girl’s maternal aunt arrived in Roccella Ionica, coming from Sweden together with her husband. Rosa immediately went to the Locri hospital to hug her niece, with whom she spent some time. She and her husband Dama traveled by car from Sweden and are part of the first group of victims’ relatives to arrive in Roccella, about ten at the moment. The two are hosted in the premises of the parish oratory made available by the bishop of Locri Msgr. Francesco Oliva. Cultural mediators and volunteers from the Red Cross, Civil Protection and Doctors Without Borders have already reported to them that all the little girl’s family members are included in the list of people missing at sea. They are Nalina’s father, mother and two younger brothers, whose Iraqi name is Laryn. From the recognition of the bodies already recovered and transferred to the morgue of the Locri hospital, none belong to the members of the Iraqi family, as confirmed by Nalina’s uncles. The little girl’s condition is improving, as confirmed by the head of the Pediatrics department Antonio Musolino and once discharged and the bureaucratic procedures have been completed – the Iraqi ambassador to Italy has also arrived in Locride – the little girl will most likely be entrusted to her young uncles. «They were very happy – said Dama in tears – even though they were aware of the risks involved during the sea journey, to have found a place on the boat and thus be able to reach Italy all together, thus starting a new and better life in Europe. I’m devastated, I never, ever thought that such a tragedy could happen. In these moments I feel like I’m in the center of hell!