World

Migration across the Mediterranean is a brutal throw of the dice

Published

2 years ago

June 15, 2023

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There is a lottery within the boats that take the migrant route across the Mediterranean.

Some get over without incident; some get into distress and are rescued; some sink without witness.

There are a lot of bodies at the bottom of that sea.

And now the list of deaths grows, and probably by a ghastly number after a fishing vessel capsized with what a charity feared was up to 750 on board.

There are already many questions about this incident. Why did the boat start to turn so sharply, apparently causing its own downfall? Who was turning down the offers of assistance, and why? Was the rescue operation adequate – and if not, why not?

But other things are more clear-cut – an overloaded boat, transporting people from a Libyan port to Europe in dreadful conditions.

I know about that, because I’ve seen it up close.

A few weeks ago, cameraman Marc Hofer and I were on board the rescue ship Geo Barents, run by the charity Medecins Sans Frontieres.

It patrols the Mediterranean, helping ships in distress and, on that sunny Saturday morning, a call for help is exactly what happened.

The Italian coastguard had been alerted to a ship, full of people, that needed assistance. When we got there, it was an extraordinary sight – a fishing boat that had been converted to carry as many people as possible.

It looked almost exactly the same as the one that has sunk off the southern Greek coast – a similar rich blue paintwork, apparently the same structure, with an upper deck and then a hugely crowded main deck.

On the boat we filmed, there was a lower area, called an underbelly, in which hundreds more people were crowded. On both boats, you can see the signs that it had previously been a fishing vessel, and you can also see the rust and wear of a long life.

My guess is that you could probably get about 40 people on to a boat like that before it started to feel too crowded.

At the end of a rescue mission we saw, which lasted several hours, more than 600 people had been transferred off the boat, and on to the Geo Barents.

When we spoke to some of those who were rescued, a story emerged that is now being echoed by survivors in Greece – of a boat that set off from the Libyan port of Tobruk, under the control of a captain.

Hunger, thirst and fear

On the Geo Barents, people told me that they had initially left the port with even more passengers on board but the vessel was so heinously overloaded that it could not be moved safely.

So, at gunpoint, around 150 people were then ordered off before the trip could start again.

They told a story of food and water running out; of people having to sit in the underbelly cramped together and of being ordered to stay in place so the boat would not sway from side to side. And of fearing that they would die on the journey.

We were also told that the captain left the ship one night, collected by a small boat that arrived alongside. After that, the passengers were left to their own devices, even though none of them knew how to control the boat.

Already, similar reports are emerging from the shipwreck – of a captain abandoning his ship, and those on board.

In both cases, the boats had actually been tracked by Frontex, the European Union’s border agency.

They scan the Mediterranean for vessels such as this and try to monitor their progress, handing on the information to the various nations that run search and rescue operations in the area.

But what is different is that the people we encountered were happy to be rescued. Many thought they were genuinely facing death and they willingly clambered off the boat and into the fast dinghies that took them to safety.

They wanted to reach Italy and, having been rescued by a boat in Italian waters, that was now going to happen.

The boat that sank seems also to have been determined to reach Italy, or perhaps Italian waters.

Maybe that’s why, as it meandered through the Greek zone, it repeatedly denied that it was in trouble – because it wanted to reach Italy’s jurisdiction before accepting any help.

But if the captain had left, then who was making that call? At times like this, there is a surfeit of questions and a paucity of answers.

Whatever – the sight of a dangerously overloaded vessel that won’t ask for help places the authorities in a difficult position.

Maritime law dictates that you must attend to a vessel that says it is in distress, or which is sinking or on fire.

But when a boat denies there’s a problem, then things become more complicated.

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‘A night-time rescue is the worst’

To an extent, all you can do is watch, hope for the best and prepare for the worst. The problem for the rescue teams is that the worst happened at 2am.

The rescue that we filmed happened on a sunny afternoon on a relatively flat sea. But operations at night, especially with so many people in the water, are notoriously difficult.

A person does not have to drift far before they are effectively out of sight. And it is incredible how the break of a wave can hide what’s behind it.

“A night-time rescue is the worst,” one of the crew told me, shaking his head.

This is really a tale of two boats: that look the same, were just as packed as each other and set off from the same place.

On both of them, there were points where the people on board thought they were going to die.

On one of them, everyone survived. On the other, they didn’t. Migration across the Mediterranean really can be a brutal throw of the dice.

World

Brutal murder on ‘date’ exposes robbery gang suspected of targeting dozens of women in South Africa

Published

15 hours ago

June 30, 2025

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Brutal murder on 'date' exposes robbery gang suspected of targeting dozens of women in South Africa

Thirty-year-old Olorato Mongale made sure to take all the measures necessary for a safe first date in South Africa’s biggest city, Johannesburg.

She had agreed to meet ‘John’ in the daytime. She sent her friends her phone location after leaving her house and promptly texted them “on the road” at 2.47pm.

They replied “enjoy!”, hoping she would find love.

An hour later, their friend had gone silent and her phone location was showing up in dangerous areas of the city.

A search party of seven friends set off to trace Olorato’s digital footsteps.

“It didn’t make sense. Where is she? Why is she missing?” says Karabo Mokoena, as we drove to the locations involved in their search.

“Every place we went to looked dodgier and dodgier. It made me panic – I was very scared.”

After finding her bag on a pile of bricks off the side of a main road, they filed a missing person report at a police station.

“I thought there was no way we were not going to find her. We did end up finding her but not in the way we would have hoped,” says Karabo.

Olorato’s body had been dumped at the dirt entrance of a random house less than 100m from where her friends were searching into the night.

Her face was swollen and her eyes black-blue from violent impact. Her top was ripped open to expose her breasts.

Police told Sky News that her post-mortem showed signs of blunt force trauma. She was likely beaten to death.

“It was like I was dreaming, seeing her body like that with those bruises and blood everywhere,” says Olorato’s mother, Keabetswe Poppy Mongale, describing the moment she had to identify her only child at the morgue.

“I don’t think what I saw will ever go away,” she adds.

“It was very painful. I don’t wish that on any parent because my beautiful little girl looked different because someone chose to do that to her.”

CCTV from the driveway of Olorato’s building shows the last time she was seen alive, leaving her home to meet ‘John’.

In the video, she walks towards a white Volkswagen Polo and hesitates as she reaches the left back door. John had come with a friend.

Four days after Olorato was killed, police found the car in a different province with traces of her blood splattered across the back seat.

Philangenkosi Sibongokuhle Makanya – ‘John’ – was shot dead by police in KwaZulu-Natal shortly after they found the vehicle.

The second man in the car, Bongani Mthimkhulu, is still on the run.

The two men have since been identified as part of a dangerous criminal syndicate that lure young women out on dates and rob them at gunpoint.

“Within the four days, the investigating officers received 94 calls from women who were raising concerns and identifying the suspects as those they once met,” South African Police Service deputy national commissioner Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili told Sky News.

“It was unfortunate about Olorato, but others were released after being robbed.”

A 24-year-old student who survived an armed robbery at the hands of Olorato’s suspected killers says she was happy to see Philangenkosi killed but she’s still scared for her life.

“As women, we are not even safe anymore – we can’t even walk freely,” she says.

“The moment you leave your house you wonder if you will make it back alive. I don’t feel comfortable walking around the street. I leave the house and then turn back.

“Even when I’m home, I still don’t feel safe and always want to keep myself locked indoors,” she says with a shaky voice – choosing to remain anonymous.

After meeting other victims of the syndicate, she was shocked to hear details of almost identical abductions.

“This other girl was surprised because we went through the exact same situation. They also approached her with the same tactic – let me take you out to lunch to get to know you – only for her to be robbed.”

South Africa has one of the highest femicide rates in the world – an average 15 women are killed a day, many by their intimate partners.

According to police statistics, more than 5,500 women were murdered in South Africa last year. An increase of 33.8% compared with the previous year.

“South Africa has six times the average rate of femicide – hundreds of women have already been killed since Olorato’s murder,” says Cameron Kasambala from Women for Change.

The advocacy group raises awareness of rising cases of femicide and gender-based violence across South Africa.

In the hours after her murder, Olorato’s friends contacted Women for Change to share her missing poster after receiving little immediate help from the local police station.

“I think her friends were the real heroes in that moment,” says Cameron.

“Two police stations that were 10 minutes apart, one finds a body and one has a missing case, don’t make a connection for hours. It’s not the most reassuring police work. And if the friends had not come forward, how long would it have taken?

“Unfortunately, Olorato’s case is an exception. Most cases are not handled that quickly.”

Olorato’s friends are still contending with the violence of her death – what it means for their daily lives and how they navigate their safety as women in South Africa.

“It is difficult to process and difficult to believe. This is somebody who ticked all the boxes when it came to being careful – being meticulous, checking her surroundings and leaving clues,” says Olorato’s friend, Koketso Sejosengoe.

“It shows it can happen to anybody no matter how safe you are. It is happening to the average girl. They are being targeted. These men know what they are doing and who they are looking for.”

“In the purest sense, Olorato wanted women to be safe and wanted women to be protected,” adds Koketso.

“I think she would be very proud to know that her name has not gone in vain and that her death is standing for something – that there will be change that comes with this.”

World

European heatwave leaves Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece in sweltering 40C heat

Published

15 hours ago

June 30, 2025

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European heatwave leaves Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece in sweltering 40C heat

Major heatwaves across southern Europe have left Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece in sweltering conditions of more than 40C (104F).

Two-thirds of Portugal was on high alert for extreme heat and risk of wildfires on Sunday, with temperatures in Lisbon expected to exceed 42C (107F).

In parts of southern Spain, temperatures are well above average, with 42C also expected in Seville and other cities.

The country’s meteorological service says June is likely to be the hottest Spain has experienced since records began.

In several Italian regions, including Lazio, Tuscany, Calabria, Puglia, and Umbria, outdoor work was banned during peak hours of sun on Sunday, with trade unions pushing for the measures to be extended and rolled out nationwide.

Twenty-one out of 27 cities were under the highest possible heat alert, including Rome, Milan, and Naples.

Greece has already been plagued by wildfires this summer, with one breaking out south of Athens on Thursday, and several on the island of Chios last Sunday.

Near Athens, authorities deployed 130 firefighters, 12 helicopters, and 12 planes, with 40 people evacuated from the highest-risk areas.

A woman was arrested on suspicion of unintentional arson after wildfires spread across brush and pastureland for three days on Chios.

Scientists link increasing frequencies of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, wildfires, and storms to climate change.

In France and Germany, at least three people died amid stormy conditions.

A ridge of high pressure above central and western Europe is driving the scorching conditions, says Sky News meteorologist Chris England.

Hotter-than-normal sea temperatures, dry land, and surface winds are also partly to blame, he added.

UK heatwave also likely

The UK is halfway through a four-day amber heat health alert, with temperatures expected to peak in the mid-30s (86F) on Tuesday.

Heat health alerts are not public weather warnings – but are instead designed to prepare health and social care bodies for the potential impact on their infrastructure and vulnerable groups.

Heatwave thresholds are likely to be met on Monday and Tuesday, which vary between 28C (82F) in the south of England and 25C (77F) across the rest of the country.

World

British-Israeli soldier killed while fighting in Gaza, reports say

Published

22 hours ago

June 29, 2025

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British-Israeli soldier killed while fighting in Gaza, reports say

A British-Israeli soldier has been killed while fighting in Gaza, Israeli media reports said.

He was named locally as Sergeant Yisrael Natan Rosenfeld, 20, from the city of Ra’anana.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it is “looking into reports that an IDF soldier who died in combat in Gaza is a British national”.

The IDF soldier, who served in the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion, was killed by an explosive device on Sunday, the Times of Israel reported.

The paper said Mr Rosenfeld moved to Israel from London with his family 11 years ago.

More than 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since Israel’s war against Hamas began on 7 October 2023, more than 400 of them during the fighting in Gaza.

The war began when the militant group launched an attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has devastated the enclave and killed more than 56,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says more than half of the dead are women and children.

It came as Donald Trump called for progress in ceasefire talks in the war between Israel and Hamas.

“MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!” the US president wrote on social media on Sunday.