12 September 2023
I left from Sfax on Thursday 14th September 2023. There were 48 of us on one boat, and we left together with two other boats. We were one big group that was split in three boats for a total of about 150 people.
We left on a small iron boat. Twenty minutes after we left Sfax and started sailing, the engine stopped. There was sand in it. We managed to fix it and continued. After 24 hours of navigation, on the evening of Friday 15th September 2023, we entered international waters. I knew we were no longer in Tunisian waters as we could see it on the phone.
The boat was embarking water; we kept trying to remove it. There was too much water in the back of the boat, so people had to move forward. Many people stood up and the boat started rocking, until it capsized.
Everyone fell in the water. We had black rubber rings to hold on and float, but the waves were dragging everyone everywhere, and we were all separated. After one or two hours, it got dark. We saw the lights of some boats and shouted, but no one could hear us. Then, I started seeing dead bodies floating but the waves were moving them away. I had drunk a lot of water, but I kept swimming towards the lights.
When the sun started rising, I started swimming towards the sun. Around sunrise, I saw fishing boats. I screamed but they did not hear me. I kept swimming towards the sun until a migrant boat of Sudanese men found me and saved me. A few hours later, you [Geo Barents] found us.
The boat was embarking water; we kept trying to remove it. There was too much water in the back of the boat, so people had to move forward. Many people stood up and the boat started rocking, until it capsized.
I didn’t know anyone on board the boat that capsized. There were some people from Ivory Coast, Guinea Conakry and Mali. There were nine women and four babies too. I don’t think anyone else survived as I was on my own in the water for a long time.
It was the third time I had tried to cross. I lost my father when I was young, and he always told me to play football. I really want to go to Europe to play football. I also want to support my mother; she has nothing.
I spent two months in Tunisia. It was terrible; we were treated really badly. We had nothing to eat and were sleeping in the street. But I would do it all over again, I would do anything to support my mother.
*Name has been changed to protect the people’s identity.
Credits
Interactive map and data visualisations developed by Code for Africa, with additional support from the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ).
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