A couple aged over 70 rescued a boat of refugees off the coast of Lampedusa. The two pensioners, who hail from Bologna, was spending holidays on the island when the incident occurred.
The two retirees said they were fishing on board their ship when they saw a young man swimming toward them -- almost 70 kilometers away from the shore.
They lifted the young man out of the water and took him on board, where they immediately were alerted about the presence of a companion and also of their boat, which had 25 young migrants on board.
"When they saw us they started to sing," recalled the couple.
The migrants all of came from Burkina Faso, and had set sail five days earlier from Sfax in Tunisia. The boat had only one tank of petrol when it left, little water provisions, and minimal food, which was quickly finished.
"To reach the island it took us seven hours. At four miles from the coast, we called the captain of a patrol boat whom we know and he came to help us," the couple explained.
"The migrants were put on his ship, which took them to the port," the added.
Watching her children die
Among the migrants were several women and children as well. One young mother said that on the day previous to the rescue she had to endure seeing her two sons die. The one was eighteen months old, the other barely two months.
"She had no choice but to let them slide into the sea," noted the couple without managing to hold back their tears.
"What happened, sadly, is the daily reality for many migrants", they only commented.