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The Karaburun tragedy of 2004, also known as the 9 January tragedy, was a marine incident that occurred during an attempted sea crossing from northern Albania to Italy by 36 people, including two dinghy operators and the smugglers' leader. They were trying to cross the Strait of Otranto, off the southern coast of Italy, in an inflatable boat, heading towards Brindisi, on the Adriatic coast of Apulia. Twenty-eight people died or were declared lost at sea,〔(Tragjedia e 9 janarit, kapet skafisti i vdekjes )〕 and there were only eight survivors. For Albanian emigrants, the tragedy had the second highest mortality rate for such events, after the Otranto tragedy of March 1997, when the Albanian ship ''Kateri i Radës'', smuggling clandestine emigrants, was hit by the Italian warship ''Sibilla'', resulting in the death of 84 people.〔(Otranto Tragedy, Session in the Court of Lecce Postponed )〕〔(13 roses for the victims of Otranto, after 13 years from the tragedy )〕 Unemployment, low income, and difficult living conditions, persuaded people to leave Albania, especially in the 1990s. Demanding visa requirements produced great difficulties in obtaining travel visas through foreign embassies, followed by a process involving lengthy, complex, and costly procedures, claimed by some to be humiliating, and these were the main reasons suggested as leading to illegal emigration.〔Mirela Bogdani & John Loughlin, (Albania and the European Union: the tumultuous journey towards integration ) I.B.Tauris and Co. Ltd 2009 ISBN 978-1-84511-308-7〕 Albania signed its first Readmission Agreement with Italy on 18 November 1997.〔(Republic of Albania, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bilateral Readmission Agreements (in Albanian) )〕 In August 2002, after making a show of burning some inflatable boats used for people smuggling in the mole of Radhima, the Albanian Prime minister Fatos Nano declared that "… we are burning the past and piracy from our coasts. There's no more rubber dinghies and traffickers on the waters of the Republic of Albania."〔Gazeta "Zëri i Popullit", 29 August 2002〕〔(Archives of articles, interviews and analysis on Karaburun tragedy (in Albanian) )〕 Despite the political reforms and successes of the Albanian government in its efforts to stop illegal emigration, in early 2004 this phenomenon still existed, as evidenced by the Karaburun deaths on 9 January. It was not until some six and a half years later, on 8 November 2010, that the Council of the European Union approved visa-free travel into the Schengen Area for Albanian citizens. == Description == There were 36 people from North Albania who traveled from Shkodër to Vlorë carried in a closed van to Dhërmi. Each of them had paid 1500 euros to the traffickers in order to pass illegally to Italy's southern coasts. They embarked with two dinghy drivers and one trafficker, setting out at around 17:30 from the northern coasts of Dhërmi village on the stormy afternoon of 9 January, after it became completely dark. Half an hour after their departure both of the boat's motors stopped, possibly because of the over-load of passengers, as well as the difficult sea conditions. Returning was impossible. They were trapped by the sea that had a force of 6 on the Beaufort scale, despite being just 3 miles from Karaburun Peninsula's western shores.〔 One of the motors started leaking fuel, burning some passengers. The people on board tried desperately to call their relatives and the police for help, and at 21:30 one of the dinghy drivers called Top-Channel TV. The boat filled with water but did not sink. Some passengers could not endure the cold and the burns and eventually died. According to the Dhërmi police post's chief, V. Kordhishta, at 17:40 his superiors were notified about the watercraft seen on radar, moving away at a mere 200 m from the shore. Afterwards, with other policemen, he went to the place where the embarkation occurred on the northern shores of Dhërmi and found an abandoned Peugeot car and some empty plastic cans of fuel. At 18:30, the radar in Vlorë tracked two watercraft, 3 miles off Karaburun's coast, publicly confirmed by a spokesman of the Ministry of Order during a transmission on Top-Channel.〔 At 18:40 a patrol boat of the Delta Force unit, an inflatable dinghy of the Border Patrol and another patrol boat set off toward Dhermi. Due to the bad weather they could not progress beyond ''Mezokanal'' between Sazan Island and Karaburun Peninsula and docked in ''Shën Jan'' bay, near Cape of Gjuhëz. At 19:00 the boat's approximate coordinates were determined, and at 21:40 the Italian representatives of NATO in Durrës were notified. They additionally sent several watercraft and two helicopters. At 1 a.m. the search was stopped, to be resumed in the morning. A NATO helicopter, AB 212 model, reached the location of the inflatable boat at 8:30 on Saturday, 10 January. The pilot hovered over the target for nearly half an hour until a '’CP-407'’ patrol boat of the 28th Group of the Italian navy (Marina Militare) stationed in Durrës seaport, could arrive to save the 11 survivors. They found 21 dead bodies: 18 males and 3 females, with 7 others missing.〔 The 21 dead bodies were transported and arrived at 1 p.m. at Albanian-Italian naval base of Sazan. At 14:20, the 11 survivors from the Guardia di Finanza's ship arrived at the Vlora seaport. The survivors were sent to the hospital for medical care and one was airlifted by helicopter to Tirana for further medical assistance. At 18:00, the 21 bodies in plastic bags arrived from Sazan Island at the morgue of Vlorë, where police authorities barred journalists from entering. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Karaburun tragedy」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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