By Politico Staff writer
Eight people identified as Sierra Leoneans are reported to have drowned in the Aegean Sea while trying to cross into Greece from Turkey last month.
This was confirmed in a press statement by the Sierra Leone Embassy based in Ankara, Turkey, dated 24th April 2023.
The statement informed that after they heard about the devastating news, they immediately wrote a Note Verbal to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as per usual protocol, requesting the issuance of Diplomatic approval for staff of the Embassy to visit the scene for identification of the bodies and to convey same to their families and loved ones.
The statement also said after the Embassy had written the note to the Turkish Foreign Ministry, they dispatched a team to Izmir, where the unfortunate incident took place.
President of the Sierra Leone Community in Turkey, Mohamed Shaka Sesay identified and confirmed at least five corpses from the different mortuaries they visited to be Sierra Leoneans.
According to the Turkish authorities, they had already buried the remains before the Embassy’s entourage could arrive at the mortuary owing to the fact that some of the bodies had gone bad before they were discovered on the sea.
The Sierra Leone Embassy in Turkey expressed its condolences to the affected families, whilst it continues to monitor the situation closely.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (26/04/23)
