Memorial for asylum seekers tragedy
A remembrance ceremony was staged today for eight Turkish asylum-seekers who were found dead in a freight container exactly a year ago this weekend.
Families of the victims – three men and a woman, as well as four children aged between three and 12 – travelled to Co Wexford from their homes in Britain for the event.
The dead woman was the mother of two of the children who perished and the father of the two other child victims also died.
Five other people survived the trip in a container from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. Ironically, the party believed they were en route to Britain, but were on board the wrong ship.
The vessel docked in Waterford and the dead and the survivors were all found in the container when it was opened in a Wexford business park after a 30-mile road journey.
The group had spent 53 hours in the almost airless 40-foot metal container on a ferry. They had endured rough seas during a voyage they believed would last just half day and leave them in Dover, Kent.
The container was also carrying a consignment of office furniture.
Several hundred people, including local residents and political and business representatives were at today’s outdoor ceremony close to the spot where the bodies were discovered. Some of the survivors were also there.
Among those present was Huseyin Erdogan, whose brother-in-law, Hasan Kalendergil, died, along with his children Zeliha, 10, and Kalendar, 12.
Also at the memorial ceremony was Karadede Guler who lost his wife Saniye and children Imam, nine, and three-year-old Berkan.
