FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
DERNA – At half past eight in the morning, on the coast of Derna, next to the mouth of the harbor, the bulldozer that has just come down from the San Marco is preparing a rudimentary berth by digging through the rubble. A few minutes later, the small Italian Navy boat arrived loaded with tents, blankets and other relief materials for the wounded city. The soldiers on site are quick, they coordinate with the Libyan military on site and transport the material by truck to the distribution points.
– Photo by Gabriele Micalizzi/Cesura
Let’s go on the boat. There are angry waves, the current is very strong. “Sea force three and wind at 35 knots. It is not surprising that the bodies are quickly transported to Tobruk. Here they are just stuck between the rocks,” says a sailor, pointing to the rugged coast. Shows some caves. “Over there, the Libyans found three people still alive but injured,” he added.
– Photo by Gabriele Micalizzi / Cesura
The water is still polluted with mud caused by the September 10 flood. As we approach the dock where the barge is to be placed in the belly of the ship, the sailors slow down. In high waves it is necessary to dose the power of the two 500 hp engines in order to gain access to the hull. A few more seconds, the personnel on board are loading and unloading. “We cannot enter the harbor because the tide has radically changed the seabed. Cars, trucks, parts of houses and trees are piled up there. “Our task in the next few days will also be to try to clean an access channel to the port,” explains the ship’s captain, Eugenio Spinaci, who commands the unit. He is an expert in humanitarian operations. He is 46 years old and has been in the Navy since he was 18. “I remember Haiti in 2010, it was a great lesson in learning to coordinate the complex machinery of international aid,” he says. Many of his men took part in the recent earthquake relief operations on the Turkey-Syria border.
Not far away is the sister ship San Giusto, which sailed off Egypt as part of Operation “Secure Mediterranean” and had already reached the waters of Derna on Tuesday in support of the Italian civil protection and fire brigade.
– Photo by Gabriele Micalizzi/Cesura
But now it is San Marco that is acting with greater intensity. “We have 210 people on board. Among them were my 120 sailors, 10 Consubin divers, 21 helicopter pilots and 46 attackers from the San Marco Brigade. Thanks to this force, we will work to facilitate navigation in the Derna area, and we also have two remote-controlled underwater drones for complex operations,” he added.
Seen from the sea, the profile of the urban area appears much more intact than from land. Apart from the deep valley of rubble that coincides with the mouth of Wadi Derna, a few buildings still stand. Only up close do you realize that they have unsafe foundations: they must be demolished before they can be rebuilt. Towards midday the strength of the sea increases. The two landing craft of the two mother ships fight, leaving large trails of foam in the high waves. The small Libyan coast guard units involved in recovering the bodies do not go out to sea.
– Photo by Gabriele Micalizzi / Cesura
“I think our work has just begun,” says the commander in greeting. The situation on site remains catastrophic. The latest news confirms 11,300 dead and over 10,000 missing. The rescue convoys are stuck in gigantic traffic jams caused by the rubble, but also by military checkpoints and the need to improve traffic. Seven emergency workers were killed in a serious car accident last night. The risk of epidemics remains very high. In front of us, another body of a man in an advanced state of decomposition was recovered from the rubble in the afternoon. It is put in a bag and placed in the back of a truck, which transports it to the mass graves, each containing ten bodies, dug up in a cemetery about 20 kilometers from the city.