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Shipwreck

In April 2015, more than 1000 refugees and migrants drowned when the boat they were travelling on sank in the Mediterranean. Dr Cristina Cattaneo searches for their identities.

In April 2015, more than 1000 refugees and migrants drowned when the old fishing boat they were travelling on sank in the Mediterranean. It was the area's worst shipwreck since World War Two.

But the people who died are not forgotten. Not by their families and friends, and not by a professor of forensic pathology at the University of Milan.

β€œThere’s a body that needs to be identified, you identify it. This is the first commandment of forensic medicine,” says Dr Cristina Cattaneo.

Assignment tells the story of the raising of the fishing boat from the Mediterranean's seabed, and Dr Cattaneo's efforts to begin to identify the people who lost their lives on that moonless night on the edge of Europe.

Producer/presenter: Linda Pressly

(Image: Ibrahima Senghor, a survivor of the tragedy of 18 April, 2015 - he was prevented from boarding the boat in Libya. Credit: Ibrahima Senghor)

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27 minutes

Last on

Thu 31 Mar 2022 19:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Christmas Eve 2020 02:32GMT
  • Christmas Eve 2020 09:06GMT
  • Christmas Eve 2020 13:32GMT
  • Christmas Eve 2020 20:06GMT
  • Christmas Eve 2020 21:06GMT
  • Thu 31 Mar 2022 01:32GMT
  • Thu 31 Mar 2022 12:32GMT
  • Thu 31 Mar 2022 19:06GMT

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