A baby burst from the womb of a drowning mother. The baby gasped for life and swallowed death in an angry toxic sea phospherescent with oil. That un-named baby was a victim of the SIEVX tragedy but was not included among the 146 children who also perished. No one would have know of that little souls brief existance if a survivor had not seen "... a baby with its umbilical cord still attached to the mother was amongst those who drowned."
There were 45 eyewitnesses to the tragedy of SIEVX which has be described as the 'Titanic of the Poor'. Just 45 survivors from over 400 people who were forced at gun point onto tiny boat. So many people, so many families. Over 400 human beings put to sea on a tiny, leaky wooden boat that could have been dry docked on a tennis court on one side of the centre line with room to spare. (At 19.5 meters long SIEVX was four meters shorter than a tennis court and less than half it's width. A standard tennis court measures 23.774 m x 10.973 m.)
On the 19th of October 2001, that tiny fishing boat bound for Australia, sank in international waters within the Australian surveillance zone and 353 - 146 children, 142 women and 65 men - died in the tragedy of SIEVX the death toll of was approximately a twelfth of that of the tragic events of 9/ll. They had fled the oppression of the Taliban, Al Qaida, and other terrorist groups Many had suffered under the rule of Saddam Hussein. When Australia closed her borders that tiny doomed boat, which would later be known as SIEVX, was their last and only hope.
The 45 survivors of SIEVX experienced the horror of the sinking and suffered over twenty hours in the water, among the dead and waiting for death, before being rescued by Indonesian fishermen. But this was not the end to their agony. The Howard Government allowed only 7 survivors into Australia to join their remaining family members after many torturous months. While the Australian Howard Government quite correctly acknowledges the horrors of 9/11 they stubbornly continue to ignore SIEVX which sunk in Australia's border protection surveillance zone. But the Howard Government ignores all calls for a full judicial inquiry or admit it is Australia's responsibility to find out who is ultimately responsible for the criminal and forced overloading of the boat and the cause of it's sinking. How can the Howard Government continue to ignore the deaths of 146 innocent children?
The Survivors Accounts http://sievxmemorial.org/accounts.htm are harrowing and have been available to the media since the latter months of 2001. They were presented by Tony Kevin http://tonykevin.com/ to the Senate Inquiry into a "Certain Maritime Incident", in 2002. But up until now they remained unpublished.
Amal Basry survivor of SIEVX and now a Patron of JANNAH THE SIEVX MEMORIAL said "Because I was waiting for my death, I saw everything. I was like a camera. I remembered being told as a child that bodies float and there was this dead woman. I held on to her and she supported me all night, she saved my life. I want people to know why I stayed on the boat even when I saw it was very dangerous. I want people to know who I am. Why I escaped from Iraq. Why I risked my life. Why I wanted to come to Australia. Maybe then they will understand."
When Amal Basry was first interviewed after her rescue she said she wanted to learn to speak English very well and then go on Larry King and tell the world what happened. She is a brave and strong woman but when she speaks of the children she cries "... I opened my eyes and found myself under the boat. I see many children die quickly, quickly."
Historian Marg Hutton webowner of the respected archive SIEVX.com http://sievx.com/ has painstaking pieced together the available details photographs of the survivors together and has generously given permission for these quotes from the survivors to be linked to the SIEVX.com Survivors Speak articles.
"Wherever you look you see the dead children like birds floating on the water. Those who survived 22 hours in the water saw the dead bodies of women and children with cuts from nails on the boat and with scars from where the fish were biting at them in the water and saw blood. In the end a boat came to rescue us. The ones who died have found comfort. As for us, our lives have been destroyed." ~ AHMED HUSSEIN
Survivors Speak: Ahmed Hussein (/archives/2003_07-08/20030705.shtml)
"My wife and daughters were looking at me and crying as the boat capsized. I lost three children and my wife, but the 150 children are like my own too. Those who perished with their families have found reprieve, but as for us, we are mere empty shells, our souls went with them. Every time I saw a child I could not differentiate between it and my children. Anywhere I placed my arm, a drowned child or woman would emerge and lift my arm and the surviving women would cry more. My wife and children stayed under the boat - they never came out." ~ HASSAN JASSEM
Survivors Speak: Hassan Jassem (/archives/2003_07-08/20030707.shtml)
".... the 150 children kept floating up looking for air to breathe inside their cabin - more water went in and they were drowned. We were a group of 28 doctors from Khuzistan. We lived in Iran for 11 years, only 5 remained. There were some children and some women amongst the group." ~ Dr HAYDAR
Survivors Speak: Dr Haydar from Khuzistan (/archives/2003_07-08/20030703.shtml)
"I boarded the boat with my wife and four children and also my brother, brother's wife and two children. One of my children survived, my wife, my brother and family all drowned. My brother screamed out to be rescued but I could not help him. He was too far from the children. One of my other children kept crying for water until the morning when he died of thirst. I kept two of my children on my shoulders all night. It was raining heavily, I did not know where my wife was. One of the children died in the morning from thirst ... " ~ FAWZI QASIM
"I boarded the boat with my wife and four children and also my brother, brother's wife and two children. One of my children survived, my wife, my brother and family all drowned. My brother screamed out to be rescued but I could not help him. He was too far from the children. One of my other children kept crying for water until the morning when he died of thirst. I kept two of my children on my shoulders all night. It was raining heavily, I did not know where my wife was. One of the children died in the morning from thirst ... " ~ FAWZI QASIM
Survivors Speak: Fawzi & Amar (/archives/2003_09-10/20030911.shtml)
"I then saw a man by the name of Yasser Elhelou, he lost his entire family. I called out to him but he could not help me. I saw another man wearing a lifejacket, I asked him to help me find my daughter. As he turned I realised that it was my husband. I told him that my daughters were taken under. He said 'Maybe someone has rescued them.' He was able to grab a floating plank of timber for me. We went on the plank for a while. I said that I am in despair for my daughters. He said may be someone has rescued them. Then I saw my small daughter Alya floating, eyes open, dead. Her father embraced her and started calling her name; he kissed her and hugged her. I said 'God has taken her'. He said 'Come see her'. I said 'I cannot look at her'. He left her, then a little later we saw the body of my elder daughter with the body of the woman who was responsible for her going under water. The other woman's two daughters, twelve and eleven, were also floating by her, both dead; my daughter was on top of her head. My husband said 'This is my daughter Kawthar.' Her father tried to revive her, he called out to her and then started to choke in pain and sorrow. He looked quite strong until he saw his daughters and he started choking. He said 'I have lost my family. I have brought you to this, I do not deserve to live.' He said 'I cannot stay, I do not want to see you die in front of me.' As he was talking he was looking very tired. He was crying and his grip became loose because of exhaustion. Then a wave came and washed him away from the timber." ~ ROKAYA SATAR
"I then saw a man by the name of Yasser Elhelou, he lost his entire family. I called out to him but he could not help me. I saw another man wearing a lifejacket, I asked him to help me find my daughter. As he turned I realised that it was my husband. I told him that my daughters were taken under. He said 'Maybe someone has rescued them.' He was able to grab a floating plank of timber for me. We went on the plank for a while. I said that I am in despair for my daughters. He said may be someone has rescued them. Then I saw my small daughter Alya floating, eyes open, dead. Her father embraced her and started calling her name; he kissed her and hugged her. I said 'God has taken her'. He said 'Come see her'. I said 'I cannot look at her'. He left her, then a little later we saw the body of my elder daughter with the body of the woman who was responsible for her going under water. The other woman's two daughters, twelve and eleven, were also floating by her, both dead; my daughter was on top of her head. My husband said 'This is my daughter Kawthar.' Her father tried to revive her, he called out to her and then started to choke in pain and sorrow. He looked quite strong until he saw his daughters and he started choking. He said 'I have lost my family. I have brought you to this, I do not deserve to live.' He said 'I cannot stay, I do not want to see you die in front of me.' As he was talking he was looking very tired. He was crying and his grip became loose because of exhaustion. Then a wave came and washed him away from the timber." ~ ROKAYA SATAR
Survivors Speak: Rokaya Satar (/archives/2003_07-08/20030704.shtml)
"I saw a child I thought was asleep on the water but I found him to be dead. We saw many different tragedies - the floating dead bodies, those crying for their brothers, fathers, wives, children, etc. It was unimaginable. I cannot continue, excuse me." ~ ABU MUSLIM
Survivors Speak: Abu Muslim (/archives/2003_07-08/20030708.shtml)
Sadiq Raza, held his young two year old daughter Kauthar on his shoulders in the water for twenty hours to save her life. Heroic feats of endurance like this were also performed by other survivors who desperately tried to keep their young children alive until they were rescued, but sadly Kauthar Sadiq was the only small child to survive.
"There were a number of us holding onto a plank of timber. As time went on in the water, one would say, 'I cannot hold on - please forgive me. Please pass my greetings to so and so' and they would lose their grip and get washed away. This happened to one after the other... I cannot speak about what I witnessed, please let me be excused. [His daughter Kauthar cries out for her mother.] ~ SADIQ RAZA & KAUTHAR
Sadiq Raza, held his young two year old daughter Kauthar on his shoulders in the water for twenty hours to save her life. Heroic feats of endurance like this were also performed by other survivors who desperately tried to keep their young children alive until they were rescued, but sadly Kauthar Sadiq was the only small child to survive.
"There were a number of us holding onto a plank of timber. As time went on in the water, one would say, 'I cannot hold on - please forgive me. Please pass my greetings to so and so' and they would lose their grip and get washed away. This happened to one after the other... I cannot speak about what I witnessed, please let me be excused. [His daughter Kauthar cries out for her mother.] ~ SADIQ RAZA & KAUTHAR
Survivors Speak: Sadiq & Kauthar (/archives/2003_07-08/20030709.shtml)
Zaynab Alrimahi found it hard to speak. Zaynab Alrimahi was one of only five children to survive the sinking of SIEVX and the only one to lose her entire family in the tragedy. Zaynab was travelling with her parents Souad and Ahsan, two brothers, Mahmoud (6) and Moustafa (4), and two sisters, Fatima (14) and Roukaya (7) both Zaynab's Iraqi parents and all four of her siblings drowned. Zaynab survived the sinking with the help of Husam, the teenage son of Issam and Rajaa Al Haddad.
"The last words Zaynab Alrimahi heard her mother utter were a prayer." Kelly Burke reported in The Age, 21 December 2001. "Souad Alrimahi implored Allah to keep her five children safe as she put lifejackets on them and led her family to the top deck of the sinking vessel. Within seconds, the boat carrying more than 400 asylum seekers capsized in rough seas off the south-west coast of Java.
"Zaynab's starkest memory was the sight of her six-year-old brother Mahmoud clinging to a plank as he choked to death on a deadly cocktail of seawater and fuel.
"Zaynab's starkest memory was the sight of her six-year-old brother Mahmoud clinging to a plank as he choked to death on a deadly cocktail of seawater and fuel.
Survivors Speak: Zaynab Alrimahi (/archives/2003_07-08/20030710.shtml)
JANNAH THE SIEVX MEMORIAL ~ SURVIVOR'S ACCOUNTS
This is a translation of the transcript of a videotaped interview with survivors of the SIEVX disaster at Bogor in the week following the sinking. The translation is by Keysar Trad of the Australian Lebanese Muslims Association, Sydney. This document was presented by Tony Kevin to the Senate Inquiry into a "Certain Maritime Incident", as an attachment to his first submission.
Person 1
I boarded the boat with fifteen other members of my family. Nine drowned and six survived. We clung on to a wooden plank for twenty hours, drifting in the water. Something I witnessed left a very strong impression: a baby with its umbilical cord still attached to the mother was amongst those who drowned. There were 150 children on board - only four are still alive. (The man broke down and could not continue his account)
Person 2
I boarded the boat with my wife and four children and also my brother, my brother's wife and his two children. My wife and one of my children survived. My brother and his family all drowned.
My brother screamed out to be rescued but I could not help him, he was too far from the children. One of my other children kept crying for water until morning, when he died of thirst. I kept two of my children on my shoulder all night. It was raining heavily. I did not know where my wife was. One of the children died in the morning from thirst; only one child survived.
Person 3 (Mr. Sadik Kazim - lost his wife and his seven year old daughter, Zahra)
As the boat started rocking from one side to another, people fell on top of each other. I held my wife and daughter when they fell in the water, then they slipped from my arms, and I could not find them until they all drowned and their bodies floated. I did not drown because I held on to a piece of timber approx. 20 cm by 70 cm.
Person 4 (female - lost her brother and sister both aged 20, and her one-and-a-half year old son)
My son was with my sister. As the boat began sinking I grabbed on to my son, he kept going under the water. I would lift him up over and over again - then I saw the milk coming out of his nose and he died.
Person 5 (female - lost her husband and two daughters aged 5 and 2 years)
As the engine stopped, my husband went to help fix it. The boat started to rock. One of my daughters started calling out for her father. He came back, hugged his daughter and returned to try and fix the engine. I was holding on to my daughters when the ship sank. Another lady trying to get to safety accidentally stepped on my daughter in the water, so I pulled her back up. This happened more than once to each of the daughters. After being stepped on a few times, I lost the elder of the two girls and only had the younger one. I began searching for my husband whilst still holding on to the baby. This is when a lady accidentally placed her hand and foot on the baby and the baby went under water. (Her story is continued later)
Person 6 (young lady, 13 years of age, named Zaynab - lost her mother, father and brother; she only saw her brother in the water before he drowned)
If Australia grants me a visa, I will not go unless all the other survivors can come with me.
Person 7 (Issam, male and his family, maternal uncle's wife and her three daughters - this is Ali Mahdi Sobie's wife and children. Ali is a Temporary Protection Visa holder in Australia; Issam's wife is amongst the survivors)
I saw my friend Abu Fatima drown along with his wife, his two sons and his two daughters. Women and children were clinging on to me and I felt I was choking . I was able to stay afloat because I was wearing a life jacket. The break up of the boat separated my family - my son Ammar also drowned. My younger son was rescued by a man by the name of Alaa' who also survived.
As the sun was setting, I heard a voice that I recognised - it was that of my wife. Another passenger, who was a good swimmer, rescued my wife and then died himself. My wife and I clung on to a piece of timber. We were both wearing life jackets, and we were both rescued. We prayed: "God, if this pleases you, we will not complain, you are the most Compassionate." The strong rain continued. As we tired, I suggested to my wife that there was nothing to live for now we had lost our children. My wife said: "No, we have to survive." (The wife is a direct descendent of prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him.) She said to me, "My great great grandfather Hussain said we must hang on. God will keep us alive so that we can tell our story, the world must know".
The next day at approximately 11 a.m., still clinging to the piece of timber, being washed around by the waves, we were rescued by the fishing boats. Then I saw the other people crying. We were a large family (with my uncle's wife and children), and now there are only three survivors.
Person 8 (male)
I was one of a group of ninety - only ten of us survived. My family had 15 members when the boat capsized. The children were wearing life jackets; unfortunately, they were all trapped inside the boat, and only a small number were able to get out. Many died from thirst, the cold, the waves and the heavy rain. Some were drinking sea water, which was heavily polluted with fuel from the boat as it broke up. I was holding my brother's daughter; she cried all night from thirst until she died. My nephew Hussein also kept crying for water all night. His father gave him urine to drink to get him to stop crying.
Person 9 (male)
I was part of a large group - only five remain. When the ship capsized, the 150 children kept floating up looking for air to breathe inside their cabin. Then more water went in and they were drowned. I managed to swim out following a ray of light that beamed through.
Person 10 (Mr. Eesa, lost (?) with wife and two daughters, the eldest was 4 years of age)
Person 11 (male)
There was a passenger by the name of Jaber Alhsnai, an elderly man (80 years of age) travelling with his son. His son had four sons and one daughter. The son died trying to rescue both his father and his family. He could not reach his wife and children. I saw his body and his father's body floating in the water.
There was a man who was wearing a lifejacket. He saw two women screaming for help and went towards them. There was a man with him named Ra'ad - as he saw others dying, he asked for forgiveness, said good-bye and died right there and then. He [the man in the lifejacket] tried to rescue the two women - one died, but he managed to rescue the second. She was the wife of Ra'ad who had just died. Ra'ad was not aware before dying that his wife was one of the two ladies screaming for help.
Person 12 (Ala Alayrawany - spoke about families he knows that drowned)
There was the family of Salam Cheway, Bassem Al Ruwaidy and Bahr Alrabbawy - all of them from the city of Najaf. Only five survived, I and four others: Aqid, Muhammad, Abu Sajjad and Musa. There were 95 people in our group - of all of us, only five by some miracle survived.
Person 13 (Afghan who spoke Pushto - could not translate. His name was Bahran and he had a family of eight - his four brothers and their families. Only he survived.)
Person 14
There were 418 passengers on the boat. Only 45 survived, including four children. 146 children drowned. There were 150 women: only eight (including the young girl) survived. There were 113 men in total; 33 survived.
The boat sank at 3:10 p.m. on Friday the 19th of October 2001.
When the boat started to sink, there were 100 survivors.
But by the next day when the rescue boats came, only 45 were still alive.
We call upon all human rights organizations, all Muslims, all noble people from all faiths, and all humanitarian countries to solve our dilemma. Remaining in Indonesia will be a constant reminder of the tragedy, it will be a constant reminder of our dead children, families and friends. We cannot live here - we lost our loved ones.
We want to settle down. We do not want to be a burden on any community. We want to work and get on with our lives. We want to help the other survivors get on with their lives - we want a better future for the survivors. We are from Iraq - Iraq is like a prison. We escaped to Iran. We were oppressed in Iran - they would not even let our children go to school. In May and June 2001, the real estate agents in Iran were officially ordered not to rent property to foreigners, and employers were also told not to employ foreigners. This was an official order applicable against Iraqis and Afghans. We had no choice but to seek asylum. We want to see our children go to school just like other children.
We appeal in the names of the 45 survivors for a quick solution. We thank the Mufti, Sheik Hilali, and the others who helped us. We will never forget what they have done for us.
Person 15 (man with child - he lost his wife and his paternal cousin; he and his baby daughter survived)
I cannot speak about what I witnessed, please let me be excused (his daughter cries out for her mother).
There were a number of us hanging onto a wooden plank. As time went by in the water, one would say, "I cannot hold on, please forgive me, please pass my greetings to so and so" ... and they would lose their grip and get washed away. This happened to one person after another.
Person 16 (Hassan Jassem from Basra, lost his wife and three children, Fatima aged five years, Batoul aged one year eight months, and a boy just twenty days old)
I did not get to enjoy looking at my twenty-day-old baby for long enough. My wife and daughters were looking at me and crying as the ship capsized. I am unwell, but I cannot go into hospital in Indonesia. Every time I go, I remember how when I was in hospital before, my wife who had heart problems used to come to visit me and look after me there.
Person 17 (tearful man)
Wherever you look you could see the dead children like birds floating on the water. Those who survived 22 hours in the water saw the dead bodies of women and children with cuts from nails on the boat and with scars from where the fish were biting at them in the water and saw blood.
At the end, a boat came to rescue us. Those who died have found comfort. As as for us, our lives have been destroyed.
Before the boat capsized, the people on the top deck saw two large ships and thought that they were going to be rescued. But noone came to the rescue. When night fell, the two ships turned floodlights and projectors on the people. The lights were so close, they seemed to be right beside us. We were very close to Australian waters.
On the second day, the Indonesian fishing boats arrived. I asked them how they knew we were here. They said that they had seen our luggage [floating in the water] and that is why they came looking for survivors. They also told us that they never go this far out to fish, because of the sharks and whales in this area.
We asked them about the ships we had seen the day before. They told us they were Australian border protection ships (navy ships). (Cries of support of this statement were heard from other survivors on the video).
These Australian navy ships, had the Australian government given orders not to rescue us? Not even the children? What had we done to be oppressed in Iraq, we went elsewhere, we could not live there so we came here and we are unwelcome. What can we do? One year and one month I waited with my family of fifteen for a reply from the United Nations.
When I went to the United Nations, they told me to find a way to get to Australia. Everywhere I went in Indonesia, I was told to find a boat to Australia. The UN guards, the UN officials, everyone talked of finding a way to Australia.
We call on any person, Christian or Muslim, with any humanity or compassion to consider our plight and help us. If the United Nations did not see our condition, they would not keep us in such accommodation after our rescue. We still hope to come to Australia, we prefer Australia but will go anywhere, we just want to get out of Indonesia.
Person 18 (Abu Muslim)
A man by the name of Abu Yasin began calling out to me: "Abu Muslim! My wife, my children, Muhammad and Houda have drowned, they are dead." I would say, "They are dead, we are next". I saw a child in the water - I thought at first he was asleep, but then I found he was dead. I also saw Mohammad, the son of Dr. Kamal (Al Battat). When the boat broke up, Mohammad called out to me: "Abu Muslim, Abu Muslim help me!" Several people were calling out to me, I was confused as to who to go to, I said, "How can I help you?" He did not have a lifejacket, none of those who called out had one.
Since the incident, we have been living the tragedy daily. I saw a couple crying, asking each other for forgiveness. The wife was saying "This cannot be true, it must be a nightmare". There were people crying out for water, others asking for forgiveness before they died. Even now, we cannot sleep because of the tragedy, it is more than we can bear.
The waves were three or four metres high, a mixture of fuel and saltwater. Anyone who swallowed it and was able to vomit was okay, but those who could not vomit died immediately by suffocation. It was a battle against the sea and the rain. By morning, most people had stopped talking, but many did not lose hope in God and continued to pray to God for salvation.
We saw many different tragedies, the floating dead bodies, those crying for their brothers, fathers, wives, children, etc. It was unimaginable ... I cannot continue, excuse me.
Question: What can you do? What happened?
(One of the people who had spoken before answered)
True, I lost three children and my wife, but the other 150 children are like my own too. Those who perished with their families have found reprieve; but as for us, we are mere empty shells, our souls went with them.
My family and I were in a room inside when we saw the water start to come into the boat. Many were sea sick. Usually when my daughter saw others being seasick, she did not take much notice, but carried on playing as if everything was normal. This time, however, she felt that there was a real danger, so she went to her mother. She was very afraid and horrified. Her mother was crying and reading the Qur`an, she placed the Qur`an on her daughter's head to pray for her.
I saw my entire family crying. To this day, I remember the scene ... my wife holding the 20 day old child and crying, not knowing what to do, and the children crying.
Before the incident, I would come home and kiss my sleeping children for ten minutes at a time, always looking at them. My wife thought I was crazy, she kept asking "Why?" and I would say, "I do not know, I have an ominous feeling". My son was only born recently. When people called me Abu Ali (father of Ali), I felt that this son would not live for long. I felt strange when they called me Abu Ali.
There were two engines, one of them was not working, and I was trying to repair it. It was an old engine but we managed to repair it as good as new. I never imagined that the boat would sink. As I worked on repairing the boat, I was looking at my family; as the boat began to capsize, they were all looking at me, trying to repair the boat. I am still affected by these final moments (weeping). My wife fell whilst holding the 20 day old baby.
When the boat capsized, I lost my sanity. I was weeping over my misfortune, that I did not die with them. I began searching for them. Every time I saw a child, I thought it was one of my children. My wife and children stayed under the boat, they never came out. I was not wearing a lifejacket. I was hitting at my head and lamenting my loss and praying for my own death. I was dragged under water three times, I do not know what kept pushing me up to stay alive.
Anywhere I placed my arm, a drowned child or woman would emerge and lift my arm and the surviving women would cry more.
As for me, remaining in Indonesia makes us depressed. Every time we see the scene, it reminds me and the others of these tragedies. We wanted to live among the Australian people. We appeal to the Australian people to take up our cases. There is no difference between us. Even though we have a different faith, we are still human beings. We appeal to the government to find a solution for us.
(All his family remained under water, none floated to the surface).
Person 19 (spoke in Afghani)
Person 20 (Haydar)
We were a group of 28 doctors from Khuzistan. We lived in Iran for 11 years. Only five of us survived. There were some children and some women amongst the group. There was a call for the strong able-bodied men to bale out the water, they were taking up buckets of water from the boat. The water got into the engines, it was also raining heavily and the boat was sinking. As the water began to rise inside the boat, people started to go en masse to where there was no water, so the boat would tilt and water would follow them. They kept running for dry deck until the boat started to break apart and capsized.
The bottom level of the boat had women and children, the middle level had families and the top level had men only. No one survived from the bottom level. As the boat capsized people were trapped with little air. I was inside with the children, there remained a small area where air was trapped. I had a lifejacket and was able to swim to safety, but the others, the children and the women, had no chance.
The captain's room was all under water. Fish were biting at our bodies, I had to be hospitalised due to fish bites. This horrible scene, between the broken boat, the fish biting at us and the dead bodies ... There was a section of the boat with people standing on it and seeing their children dying. One would say: "Haydar, look, my son Mohammad is dead"; I would say, "We will follow them soon". I saw the father looking up and calling to God: "My God, you took my son, a sacrifice for you, if you would also like more, I submit to you". He died after this. I do not know how far their voices in prayer reached. If suicide was permitted, I am certain many would have let go.
I appeal to every person with humanity, I appeal to the Australian people.
Back to Person 19
We heard so much about Australia, that Australians are not racist, that they are humanitarian - so we wanted to come, because we suffered from racism in Iran. Children up to fifteen years of age could not read or write because they were not allowed to go to school.
I have relatives in Australia. They used to tell me that Australians are great tolerant people, Australians are not racist and they have freedom. For this reason, we wanted to come to Australia in particular; we were deprived of freedom in our own countries.
Back to Person number 5 (female)
When they came to us and showed us the boat, we were told that this boat was not the one to get us to Australia, it was only a transit boat that would get us to the boat that would bring us to Australia. They put us in a very small place on the boat, with children on top of each other. We stayed there till 6 a.m., and then the boat moved out and kept moving till 3:10 p.m. when it began to sink. The engine stopped working. Some went to fix the engine, whilst others were baling out water and a third group was trying to move left and right to keep the boat balanced in the water.
The water came from the left and then the right and the boat capsized. When it did, the women and the children started to come out. I grabbed my daughters, aged five and two. My husband was fixing the engine inside; my daughter was crying, wanting her father. Her father came out to see them before the boat capsized and then went back to fix the engine.
As I was holding my daughters, trying to keep them from drowning, a woman came and stepped on my elder daughter as she was scurrying for safety. I pulled my daughter up, the women kept tripping on my daughter repeatedly until my daughter sank and I could not pull her up anymore. I only had my younger daughter now. I started to look for my husband. I could not find my elder daughter anywhere. A woman who was looking for her two daughters came, she did not know what she was doing, she pushed me and my daughter under water. I was able to keep holding on to my daughter; she pushed us a second time but we were still able to come up for air. On the third occasion, my daughter was lost.
I then saw a man by the name of Yasser Elhelou, he lost his entire family. I called out to him, but he could not help me. I saw another man wearing a lifejacket, and asked him to help me find my daughter. As he turned, I saw it was my husband. I told him that our daughters were drowned. He said maybe someone had rescued them. He was able to grab a floating plank of timber for me, and we hung onto the plank for a while. I said "I am in despair for our daughters". He said "Maybe someone has rescued them".
Then I saw our small daughter Alya floating, eyes open, dead. My husband embraced her and called her name, he kissed her and hugged her. I said: "God has taken her". He said, "Come and see her". I said: "I cannot look at her". He left her. Then a little later, we saw the body of our elder daughter with the body of the woman who was responsible for her going under water. The other women's two daughters, aged twelve and eleven, were also floating nearby, both dead. My daughter was on top of her head. My husband said: "This is my daughter Kawthar". He tried to revive her, he called out to her, then he started to choke in pain and sorrow. He looked quite strong until he saw his daughters and he started choking. He said, "I have lost my family, I have brought you to this, I do not deserve to live". He said: "I cannot stay, I do not want to have to watch you die."
As he was talking, he looked exhausted, he was crying, he lost his grip on the plank and a wave came and washed him away. His friend saw him drifting past, and asked him: "Why did you leave your wife?" He said: "My wife died, I don't deserve to live". He was floating in his lifejacket, looking up at the sky, saying: "This is all my fault, I brought my family to their death". He asked me to forgive him, he said: "I brought you to Australia, you did not want to come here".
I found myself alone. The other survivors were carried off by the waves. I heard their cries from time to time, but I could not see them. Then in the middle of the night, I saw two people, Ra'ad and Abu Mohammad. Ra'ad was a friend of my husband's. I called out to them: "Take me with you, I am all alone". They pulled my plank towards theirs, where there was another woman holding on. The other woman became tired and sank under the water twice and died.
I kept holding on. I asked the man: "Are you Abu Mohammad, my husband's friend?" He said: "Are you Umm Kawthar? I thought that you all died because you were inside". I said: "Abu Kawthar and the girls died". Abu Mohammad said: "In five minutes we will be dead like them". Ra'ad said, "I am feeling so sleepy, I must sleep, I cannot stay with you". Abu Mohammad said: "Do not leave me alone with the lady, I cannot help her on my own". Then Ra'ad drifted away. Abu Mohammad and I clung on until the boats came and rescued us.
Person 21 (Mrs. Elzoueni)
I was travelling with my four brothers - one of them was 21 year-old Haydar - and my sisters, aged twenty and eighteen, and my son Karrar, eighteen months old. Only my eighteen-year-old sister Zena survived.
When we were brought to the boat, we were told that we would be transported to the main ship, we found this to be untrue. We were packed in like sardines. My brother was sick, they put him on the top deck. We were all seasick with the motion of the boat. Even before the accident, I saw a ten-month-old girl slip from her father's arms and fall into the sea. People were packed on top of each other in the small ship, they were seasick and women and children were crying with fear. Then a crack appeared in the boat and seawater started to gush inside. The men tried to bale it out with buckets but could not keep up.
There were only about a hundred lifejackets. People were crying. My brothers came and gave a lifejacket to my sister. We started praying to God: "O God, You who saved Noah, save us!" I was inside, my sister was carrying my son, then I took my son from her - then we were in the water and the waves kept washing me and my son, dragging him under over and over until he started to vomit.
The boat broke up within seconds, the waves washed family members apart. I saw a woman giving birth in the ocean. I saw my brother being washed away by the waves. I called out to him. He was weeping.
When night fell, I saw a group of 22 young men with a thirteen-year-old girl, and a lady who lost her three daughters, her son and her mother-in-law. My brother had not wanted to come to Australia, he only wanted to get us to safety and then go back.
Thirst, hunger and saltwater ... people had gone without food since Wednesday so that they would not throw up. I clung onto a plank with another lady. The water all around us was contaminated with fuel. The little girl died from exhaustion and the cold - she did not have a lifejacket. Out of our group of twenty-five, there were only seven left. Time passed quickly; like a miracle, dawn came at what felt like 1 a.m. I prayed to God to take my life, I could no longer cope with the pain. Then we were rescued by an Indonesian boat.
http://sievxmemorial.org/accounts.htm
Person 1
I boarded the boat with fifteen other members of my family. Nine drowned and six survived. We clung on to a wooden plank for twenty hours, drifting in the water. Something I witnessed left a very strong impression: a baby with its umbilical cord still attached to the mother was amongst those who drowned. There were 150 children on board - only four are still alive. (The man broke down and could not continue his account)
Person 2
I boarded the boat with my wife and four children and also my brother, my brother's wife and his two children. My wife and one of my children survived. My brother and his family all drowned.
My brother screamed out to be rescued but I could not help him, he was too far from the children. One of my other children kept crying for water until morning, when he died of thirst. I kept two of my children on my shoulder all night. It was raining heavily. I did not know where my wife was. One of the children died in the morning from thirst; only one child survived.
Person 3 (Mr. Sadik Kazim - lost his wife and his seven year old daughter, Zahra)
As the boat started rocking from one side to another, people fell on top of each other. I held my wife and daughter when they fell in the water, then they slipped from my arms, and I could not find them until they all drowned and their bodies floated. I did not drown because I held on to a piece of timber approx. 20 cm by 70 cm.
Person 4 (female - lost her brother and sister both aged 20, and her one-and-a-half year old son)
My son was with my sister. As the boat began sinking I grabbed on to my son, he kept going under the water. I would lift him up over and over again - then I saw the milk coming out of his nose and he died.
Person 5 (female - lost her husband and two daughters aged 5 and 2 years)
As the engine stopped, my husband went to help fix it. The boat started to rock. One of my daughters started calling out for her father. He came back, hugged his daughter and returned to try and fix the engine. I was holding on to my daughters when the ship sank. Another lady trying to get to safety accidentally stepped on my daughter in the water, so I pulled her back up. This happened more than once to each of the daughters. After being stepped on a few times, I lost the elder of the two girls and only had the younger one. I began searching for my husband whilst still holding on to the baby. This is when a lady accidentally placed her hand and foot on the baby and the baby went under water. (Her story is continued later)
Person 6 (young lady, 13 years of age, named Zaynab - lost her mother, father and brother; she only saw her brother in the water before he drowned)
If Australia grants me a visa, I will not go unless all the other survivors can come with me.
Person 7 (Issam, male and his family, maternal uncle's wife and her three daughters - this is Ali Mahdi Sobie's wife and children. Ali is a Temporary Protection Visa holder in Australia; Issam's wife is amongst the survivors)
I saw my friend Abu Fatima drown along with his wife, his two sons and his two daughters. Women and children were clinging on to me and I felt I was choking . I was able to stay afloat because I was wearing a life jacket. The break up of the boat separated my family - my son Ammar also drowned. My younger son was rescued by a man by the name of Alaa' who also survived.
As the sun was setting, I heard a voice that I recognised - it was that of my wife. Another passenger, who was a good swimmer, rescued my wife and then died himself. My wife and I clung on to a piece of timber. We were both wearing life jackets, and we were both rescued. We prayed: "God, if this pleases you, we will not complain, you are the most Compassionate." The strong rain continued. As we tired, I suggested to my wife that there was nothing to live for now we had lost our children. My wife said: "No, we have to survive." (The wife is a direct descendent of prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him.) She said to me, "My great great grandfather Hussain said we must hang on. God will keep us alive so that we can tell our story, the world must know".
The next day at approximately 11 a.m., still clinging to the piece of timber, being washed around by the waves, we were rescued by the fishing boats. Then I saw the other people crying. We were a large family (with my uncle's wife and children), and now there are only three survivors.
Person 8 (male)
I was one of a group of ninety - only ten of us survived. My family had 15 members when the boat capsized. The children were wearing life jackets; unfortunately, they were all trapped inside the boat, and only a small number were able to get out. Many died from thirst, the cold, the waves and the heavy rain. Some were drinking sea water, which was heavily polluted with fuel from the boat as it broke up. I was holding my brother's daughter; she cried all night from thirst until she died. My nephew Hussein also kept crying for water all night. His father gave him urine to drink to get him to stop crying.
Person 9 (male)
I was part of a large group - only five remain. When the ship capsized, the 150 children kept floating up looking for air to breathe inside their cabin. Then more water went in and they were drowned. I managed to swim out following a ray of light that beamed through.
Person 10 (Mr. Eesa, lost (?) with wife and two daughters, the eldest was 4 years of age)
Person 11 (male)
There was a passenger by the name of Jaber Alhsnai, an elderly man (80 years of age) travelling with his son. His son had four sons and one daughter. The son died trying to rescue both his father and his family. He could not reach his wife and children. I saw his body and his father's body floating in the water.
There was a man who was wearing a lifejacket. He saw two women screaming for help and went towards them. There was a man with him named Ra'ad - as he saw others dying, he asked for forgiveness, said good-bye and died right there and then. He [the man in the lifejacket] tried to rescue the two women - one died, but he managed to rescue the second. She was the wife of Ra'ad who had just died. Ra'ad was not aware before dying that his wife was one of the two ladies screaming for help.
Person 12 (Ala Alayrawany - spoke about families he knows that drowned)
There was the family of Salam Cheway, Bassem Al Ruwaidy and Bahr Alrabbawy - all of them from the city of Najaf. Only five survived, I and four others: Aqid, Muhammad, Abu Sajjad and Musa. There were 95 people in our group - of all of us, only five by some miracle survived.
Person 13 (Afghan who spoke Pushto - could not translate. His name was Bahran and he had a family of eight - his four brothers and their families. Only he survived.)
Person 14
There were 418 passengers on the boat. Only 45 survived, including four children. 146 children drowned. There were 150 women: only eight (including the young girl) survived. There were 113 men in total; 33 survived.
The boat sank at 3:10 p.m. on Friday the 19th of October 2001.
When the boat started to sink, there were 100 survivors.
But by the next day when the rescue boats came, only 45 were still alive.
We call upon all human rights organizations, all Muslims, all noble people from all faiths, and all humanitarian countries to solve our dilemma. Remaining in Indonesia will be a constant reminder of the tragedy, it will be a constant reminder of our dead children, families and friends. We cannot live here - we lost our loved ones.
We want to settle down. We do not want to be a burden on any community. We want to work and get on with our lives. We want to help the other survivors get on with their lives - we want a better future for the survivors. We are from Iraq - Iraq is like a prison. We escaped to Iran. We were oppressed in Iran - they would not even let our children go to school. In May and June 2001, the real estate agents in Iran were officially ordered not to rent property to foreigners, and employers were also told not to employ foreigners. This was an official order applicable against Iraqis and Afghans. We had no choice but to seek asylum. We want to see our children go to school just like other children.
We appeal in the names of the 45 survivors for a quick solution. We thank the Mufti, Sheik Hilali, and the others who helped us. We will never forget what they have done for us.
Person 15 (man with child - he lost his wife and his paternal cousin; he and his baby daughter survived)
I cannot speak about what I witnessed, please let me be excused (his daughter cries out for her mother).
There were a number of us hanging onto a wooden plank. As time went by in the water, one would say, "I cannot hold on, please forgive me, please pass my greetings to so and so" ... and they would lose their grip and get washed away. This happened to one person after another.
Person 16 (Hassan Jassem from Basra, lost his wife and three children, Fatima aged five years, Batoul aged one year eight months, and a boy just twenty days old)
I did not get to enjoy looking at my twenty-day-old baby for long enough. My wife and daughters were looking at me and crying as the ship capsized. I am unwell, but I cannot go into hospital in Indonesia. Every time I go, I remember how when I was in hospital before, my wife who had heart problems used to come to visit me and look after me there.
Person 17 (tearful man)
Wherever you look you could see the dead children like birds floating on the water. Those who survived 22 hours in the water saw the dead bodies of women and children with cuts from nails on the boat and with scars from where the fish were biting at them in the water and saw blood.
At the end, a boat came to rescue us. Those who died have found comfort. As as for us, our lives have been destroyed.
Before the boat capsized, the people on the top deck saw two large ships and thought that they were going to be rescued. But noone came to the rescue. When night fell, the two ships turned floodlights and projectors on the people. The lights were so close, they seemed to be right beside us. We were very close to Australian waters.
On the second day, the Indonesian fishing boats arrived. I asked them how they knew we were here. They said that they had seen our luggage [floating in the water] and that is why they came looking for survivors. They also told us that they never go this far out to fish, because of the sharks and whales in this area.
We asked them about the ships we had seen the day before. They told us they were Australian border protection ships (navy ships). (Cries of support of this statement were heard from other survivors on the video).
These Australian navy ships, had the Australian government given orders not to rescue us? Not even the children? What had we done to be oppressed in Iraq, we went elsewhere, we could not live there so we came here and we are unwelcome. What can we do? One year and one month I waited with my family of fifteen for a reply from the United Nations.
When I went to the United Nations, they told me to find a way to get to Australia. Everywhere I went in Indonesia, I was told to find a boat to Australia. The UN guards, the UN officials, everyone talked of finding a way to Australia.
We call on any person, Christian or Muslim, with any humanity or compassion to consider our plight and help us. If the United Nations did not see our condition, they would not keep us in such accommodation after our rescue. We still hope to come to Australia, we prefer Australia but will go anywhere, we just want to get out of Indonesia.
Person 18 (Abu Muslim)
A man by the name of Abu Yasin began calling out to me: "Abu Muslim! My wife, my children, Muhammad and Houda have drowned, they are dead." I would say, "They are dead, we are next". I saw a child in the water - I thought at first he was asleep, but then I found he was dead. I also saw Mohammad, the son of Dr. Kamal (Al Battat). When the boat broke up, Mohammad called out to me: "Abu Muslim, Abu Muslim help me!" Several people were calling out to me, I was confused as to who to go to, I said, "How can I help you?" He did not have a lifejacket, none of those who called out had one.
Since the incident, we have been living the tragedy daily. I saw a couple crying, asking each other for forgiveness. The wife was saying "This cannot be true, it must be a nightmare". There were people crying out for water, others asking for forgiveness before they died. Even now, we cannot sleep because of the tragedy, it is more than we can bear.
The waves were three or four metres high, a mixture of fuel and saltwater. Anyone who swallowed it and was able to vomit was okay, but those who could not vomit died immediately by suffocation. It was a battle against the sea and the rain. By morning, most people had stopped talking, but many did not lose hope in God and continued to pray to God for salvation.
We saw many different tragedies, the floating dead bodies, those crying for their brothers, fathers, wives, children, etc. It was unimaginable ... I cannot continue, excuse me.
Question: What can you do? What happened?
(One of the people who had spoken before answered)
True, I lost three children and my wife, but the other 150 children are like my own too. Those who perished with their families have found reprieve; but as for us, we are mere empty shells, our souls went with them.
My family and I were in a room inside when we saw the water start to come into the boat. Many were sea sick. Usually when my daughter saw others being seasick, she did not take much notice, but carried on playing as if everything was normal. This time, however, she felt that there was a real danger, so she went to her mother. She was very afraid and horrified. Her mother was crying and reading the Qur`an, she placed the Qur`an on her daughter's head to pray for her.
I saw my entire family crying. To this day, I remember the scene ... my wife holding the 20 day old child and crying, not knowing what to do, and the children crying.
Before the incident, I would come home and kiss my sleeping children for ten minutes at a time, always looking at them. My wife thought I was crazy, she kept asking "Why?" and I would say, "I do not know, I have an ominous feeling". My son was only born recently. When people called me Abu Ali (father of Ali), I felt that this son would not live for long. I felt strange when they called me Abu Ali.
There were two engines, one of them was not working, and I was trying to repair it. It was an old engine but we managed to repair it as good as new. I never imagined that the boat would sink. As I worked on repairing the boat, I was looking at my family; as the boat began to capsize, they were all looking at me, trying to repair the boat. I am still affected by these final moments (weeping). My wife fell whilst holding the 20 day old baby.
When the boat capsized, I lost my sanity. I was weeping over my misfortune, that I did not die with them. I began searching for them. Every time I saw a child, I thought it was one of my children. My wife and children stayed under the boat, they never came out. I was not wearing a lifejacket. I was hitting at my head and lamenting my loss and praying for my own death. I was dragged under water three times, I do not know what kept pushing me up to stay alive.
Anywhere I placed my arm, a drowned child or woman would emerge and lift my arm and the surviving women would cry more.
As for me, remaining in Indonesia makes us depressed. Every time we see the scene, it reminds me and the others of these tragedies. We wanted to live among the Australian people. We appeal to the Australian people to take up our cases. There is no difference between us. Even though we have a different faith, we are still human beings. We appeal to the government to find a solution for us.
(All his family remained under water, none floated to the surface).
Person 19 (spoke in Afghani)
Person 20 (Haydar)
We were a group of 28 doctors from Khuzistan. We lived in Iran for 11 years. Only five of us survived. There were some children and some women amongst the group. There was a call for the strong able-bodied men to bale out the water, they were taking up buckets of water from the boat. The water got into the engines, it was also raining heavily and the boat was sinking. As the water began to rise inside the boat, people started to go en masse to where there was no water, so the boat would tilt and water would follow them. They kept running for dry deck until the boat started to break apart and capsized.
The bottom level of the boat had women and children, the middle level had families and the top level had men only. No one survived from the bottom level. As the boat capsized people were trapped with little air. I was inside with the children, there remained a small area where air was trapped. I had a lifejacket and was able to swim to safety, but the others, the children and the women, had no chance.
The captain's room was all under water. Fish were biting at our bodies, I had to be hospitalised due to fish bites. This horrible scene, between the broken boat, the fish biting at us and the dead bodies ... There was a section of the boat with people standing on it and seeing their children dying. One would say: "Haydar, look, my son Mohammad is dead"; I would say, "We will follow them soon". I saw the father looking up and calling to God: "My God, you took my son, a sacrifice for you, if you would also like more, I submit to you". He died after this. I do not know how far their voices in prayer reached. If suicide was permitted, I am certain many would have let go.
I appeal to every person with humanity, I appeal to the Australian people.
Back to Person 19
We heard so much about Australia, that Australians are not racist, that they are humanitarian - so we wanted to come, because we suffered from racism in Iran. Children up to fifteen years of age could not read or write because they were not allowed to go to school.
I have relatives in Australia. They used to tell me that Australians are great tolerant people, Australians are not racist and they have freedom. For this reason, we wanted to come to Australia in particular; we were deprived of freedom in our own countries.
Back to Person number 5 (female)
When they came to us and showed us the boat, we were told that this boat was not the one to get us to Australia, it was only a transit boat that would get us to the boat that would bring us to Australia. They put us in a very small place on the boat, with children on top of each other. We stayed there till 6 a.m., and then the boat moved out and kept moving till 3:10 p.m. when it began to sink. The engine stopped working. Some went to fix the engine, whilst others were baling out water and a third group was trying to move left and right to keep the boat balanced in the water.
The water came from the left and then the right and the boat capsized. When it did, the women and the children started to come out. I grabbed my daughters, aged five and two. My husband was fixing the engine inside; my daughter was crying, wanting her father. Her father came out to see them before the boat capsized and then went back to fix the engine.
As I was holding my daughters, trying to keep them from drowning, a woman came and stepped on my elder daughter as she was scurrying for safety. I pulled my daughter up, the women kept tripping on my daughter repeatedly until my daughter sank and I could not pull her up anymore. I only had my younger daughter now. I started to look for my husband. I could not find my elder daughter anywhere. A woman who was looking for her two daughters came, she did not know what she was doing, she pushed me and my daughter under water. I was able to keep holding on to my daughter; she pushed us a second time but we were still able to come up for air. On the third occasion, my daughter was lost.
I then saw a man by the name of Yasser Elhelou, he lost his entire family. I called out to him, but he could not help me. I saw another man wearing a lifejacket, and asked him to help me find my daughter. As he turned, I saw it was my husband. I told him that our daughters were drowned. He said maybe someone had rescued them. He was able to grab a floating plank of timber for me, and we hung onto the plank for a while. I said "I am in despair for our daughters". He said "Maybe someone has rescued them".
Then I saw our small daughter Alya floating, eyes open, dead. My husband embraced her and called her name, he kissed her and hugged her. I said: "God has taken her". He said, "Come and see her". I said: "I cannot look at her". He left her. Then a little later, we saw the body of our elder daughter with the body of the woman who was responsible for her going under water. The other women's two daughters, aged twelve and eleven, were also floating nearby, both dead. My daughter was on top of her head. My husband said: "This is my daughter Kawthar". He tried to revive her, he called out to her, then he started to choke in pain and sorrow. He looked quite strong until he saw his daughters and he started choking. He said, "I have lost my family, I have brought you to this, I do not deserve to live". He said: "I cannot stay, I do not want to have to watch you die."
As he was talking, he looked exhausted, he was crying, he lost his grip on the plank and a wave came and washed him away. His friend saw him drifting past, and asked him: "Why did you leave your wife?" He said: "My wife died, I don't deserve to live". He was floating in his lifejacket, looking up at the sky, saying: "This is all my fault, I brought my family to their death". He asked me to forgive him, he said: "I brought you to Australia, you did not want to come here".
I found myself alone. The other survivors were carried off by the waves. I heard their cries from time to time, but I could not see them. Then in the middle of the night, I saw two people, Ra'ad and Abu Mohammad. Ra'ad was a friend of my husband's. I called out to them: "Take me with you, I am all alone". They pulled my plank towards theirs, where there was another woman holding on. The other woman became tired and sank under the water twice and died.
I kept holding on. I asked the man: "Are you Abu Mohammad, my husband's friend?" He said: "Are you Umm Kawthar? I thought that you all died because you were inside". I said: "Abu Kawthar and the girls died". Abu Mohammad said: "In five minutes we will be dead like them". Ra'ad said, "I am feeling so sleepy, I must sleep, I cannot stay with you". Abu Mohammad said: "Do not leave me alone with the lady, I cannot help her on my own". Then Ra'ad drifted away. Abu Mohammad and I clung on until the boats came and rescued us.
Person 21 (Mrs. Elzoueni)
I was travelling with my four brothers - one of them was 21 year-old Haydar - and my sisters, aged twenty and eighteen, and my son Karrar, eighteen months old. Only my eighteen-year-old sister Zena survived.
When we were brought to the boat, we were told that we would be transported to the main ship, we found this to be untrue. We were packed in like sardines. My brother was sick, they put him on the top deck. We were all seasick with the motion of the boat. Even before the accident, I saw a ten-month-old girl slip from her father's arms and fall into the sea. People were packed on top of each other in the small ship, they were seasick and women and children were crying with fear. Then a crack appeared in the boat and seawater started to gush inside. The men tried to bale it out with buckets but could not keep up.
There were only about a hundred lifejackets. People were crying. My brothers came and gave a lifejacket to my sister. We started praying to God: "O God, You who saved Noah, save us!" I was inside, my sister was carrying my son, then I took my son from her - then we were in the water and the waves kept washing me and my son, dragging him under over and over until he started to vomit.
The boat broke up within seconds, the waves washed family members apart. I saw a woman giving birth in the ocean. I saw my brother being washed away by the waves. I called out to him. He was weeping.
When night fell, I saw a group of 22 young men with a thirteen-year-old girl, and a lady who lost her three daughters, her son and her mother-in-law. My brother had not wanted to come to Australia, he only wanted to get us to safety and then go back.
Thirst, hunger and saltwater ... people had gone without food since Wednesday so that they would not throw up. I clung onto a plank with another lady. The water all around us was contaminated with fuel. The little girl died from exhaustion and the cold - she did not have a lifejacket. Out of our group of twenty-five, there were only seven left. Time passed quickly; like a miracle, dawn came at what felt like 1 a.m. I prayed to God to take my life, I could no longer cope with the pain. Then we were rescued by an Indonesian boat.
http://sievxmemorial.org/accounts.htm