‘The beach is like a cemetery’: Italian village grapples with shipwreck aftermath

Search and rescue operations still underway in Steccato di Cutro where 62 people died

It was about 5.30am on Sunday when Vincenzo Luciano rushed to the beach in Steccato di Cutro in Italy’s southern Calabria region after receiving a call from a fellow fisher who described seeing a boat breaking up in the waves.

“It was still dark, but when I arrived I could see many bodies on the beach, those of children too,” Luciano said. “Using the light from my phone I tried to find others in the sea. Nothing like this has ever happened on this stretch of coast before, and I hope it’s a memory I’m able to forget quickly.”