A migrant boat carrying 14 Algerian men ran over a 17-year-old girl off the coast of Sardinia before continuing towards shore and attempting to evade police, according to Italian authorities, in an incident captured on video that has since gone viral on social media.
The teenager was swimming near Su Giudeu beach at Chia in southern Sardinia on 16 August when the fibreglass motorboat struck her close to the bathing area. She lost consciousness, suffered multiple fractures and nearly drowned before beachgoers pulled her from the water. She was airlifted to Brotzu hospital in Cagliari and underwent surgery. She left the scene in critical condition.
The boat was carrying 14 Algerian migrants without identification documents. Italian media initially described the vessel as arriving from North Africa. The Chia coastline has become an increasingly used route for migrant boats reaching Sardinia.
According to the Carabinieri, the vessel resumed its journey immediately after running over the girl ‘in an attempt to lose its tracks’, heading towards the nearby beach of Tuerredda. After reaching land, those aboard abandoned the boat and tried to scatter into the surrounding countryside. Police and Carabinieri sealed off the principal routes from the coast and detained all 14 men.
A 16-year-old boy who was swimming with the victim said that the migrants aboard did notice the collision, but continued anyway. He added that he managed to move out of the boat’s path at the last moment.
‘They saw us. After the impact they stopped, looked at us and then fled,’ he told L’Unione Sarda. He also said it was the fourth migrant landing he had witnessed in the area. Video footage of the incident supports his account.
Investigators identified a 28-year-old Algerian as the suspected helmsman. He was arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal immigration and causing grievous bodily harm and transferred to Uta prison.
The girl’s condition has since improved, and she has been moved out of intensive care.
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