Walk to be held on Sunday to commemorate shipwreck victims

A walk will be organised this Sunday to commemorate the death of 850 asylum seekers during a shipwreck last year.

The walk will commence at 10am at City Gate and will end at the Addolorata Cemetery in Marsa at around 11:30am.

People are invited to bring flowers or candles with them as a sign of respect for the deceased. Proceeds from donations will go towards the establishment of a monument for the 850 people at the cemetery

On 18 April 2015, a boat leaving from Libya capsized in rough seas close to the Maltese shores. Only 27 people survived the catastrophe.

24 corpses were recovered and taken to Malta for burial. However, they were never identified and were hastily buried in a communal unmarked grave.   

“To this day, there has been no initiative from the Maltese government to mark this burial ground with any commemorative sign of remembrance,” the organisers said in a statement. “Unsatisfied with this state of being, we are taking the initiative to organize a peaceful walk to pay our respects to the victims of this shipwreck.”