Drowned baby picture captures week of tragedy in Mediterranean

WARNING:This story contains agraphic photographof a drownedbaby, which some viewers may find disturbing.

It isat the bottom of the story, after the last paragraph. CBC News has decided to include the phototo allowfor the fullest understanding of the event, but we want to give readers the option to not scroll down and to click away from the storyif they don't want to see the picture.

A photograph of a drowned migrantbaby in the arms of a German rescuer was distributed on Mondayby a humanitarian organization aiming to persuade Europeanauthorities to ensure safe passage to migrants, after hundredsare feared to have drowned in the Mediterranean last week.

• Turkey hails 'effective' migrant deal as EU leaders visit
• More than 700 migrants feared dead in Mediterranean shipwrecks

The baby, who appears to be no more than a year old, waspulled from the sea on Friday after the capsizing of a woodenboat. Forty-five bodies arrived in the southern Italian port ofReggio Calabria on Sunday aboard an Italian navy ship, whichpicked up 135 survivors from the same incident.

German humanitarian organization Sea-Watch, operating arescue boat in the sea between Libya and Italy, distributed thepicture taken by a media production company on board and whichshowed a rescuer cradling the child like a sleeping baby.

In an email, the rescuer, who gave his name as Martin butdid not want his family name published, said he had spotted thebaby in the water "like a doll, arms outstretched."

"I took hold of the forearm of the baby and pulled the lightbody protectively into my arms at once, as if it were stillalive It held out its arms with tiny fingers into the air,the sun shone into its bright, friendly but motionless eyes."

More than 8,000 dead

The rescuer, a father of three and by profession a musictherapist, added: "I began to sing to comfort myself and to givesome kind of expression to this incomprehensible, heart-rendingmoment. Just six hours ago this child was alive."

Like the photograph of the three-year-old Syrian boy AlanKurdilying lifeless on a Turkish beach last year, the image puts ahuman face on the more than 8,000 people who have died in theMediterranean since the start of 2014.

Little is known about the child, who according to Sea-Watchwas immediately handed over to the Italian navy. Rescuers couldnot confirm whether the partially clothed infant was a boy or agirl and it is not known whether the child's mother or fatherare among the survivors.

Sea-Watch collected about 25 other bodies, including anotherchild, according to testimony from the crew seen by Reuters. TheSea-Watch team said it unanimously decided to publish the photo.

"In the wake of the disastrous events it becomes obvious to the organizations on the ground that the calls by EU politicians to avoid further death at sea sum up to nothing more than lip service," Sea-Watch said in a statement in English distributed along with the photograph.

"If we do not want to see such pictures we have to stopproducing them," Sea-Watch said, calling for Europe to allowmigrants safe and legal passage as a way of shutting down peoplesmuggling and further tragedies.

• Men charged in death of AlanKurdisay father isto blame
• Little AlanKurdi, washed ashore, suddenly refocuses Syrian tragedy

At least 700 migrants may have died at sea this past week inthe busiest week of migrant crossings from Libya towards Italythis year, the UN Refugee agency said on Sunday.

The boat carrying the baby left the shores of Libya nearSabratha late on Thursday, and then began to take on water,according to accounts by survivors collected by Save theChildren on Sunday. Hundreds were on board when it capsized, thesurvivors said.