SURVIVORS and family members of those killed in last year’s tragic shipwreck off Italy’s southern coast returned for three days of commemorations ending today.

On February 26 2023, a wooden boat left Turkey carrying 200 migrants and sank killing 94, including 35 minors.

A torchlit vigil on the beach where the ship was wrecked, a photo exhibition and a protest march were among the events organised by campaign group Network February 26 around the town of Crotone.

Many of the dead and survivors had fled Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Syria, hoping to join family members in Italy and other west European countries.

“One year after the carnage, their right to the truth, to justice and to be reunited with their families has not been guaranteed yet,” the group wrote on its Facebook page.

Network February 26 has repeatedly asked the Italian government to seek the truth about one of the deadliest migrant shipwrecks in the Mediterranean.

The group has denounced repeated policy failures and alleged violations of human rights by Italian and EU authorities.

Some of the bereaved announced today that they intend to sue Italy’s government for failing to go to the aid of the boat in distress.