Fisherman's wife feels joy and despair

Simon Bugeja's wife was overcome with "indescribable happiness" after finding out last Friday that her husband was alive after he had been in the sea for eight days. But she was deflated soon after when she discovered that reports of her son also making it were false.

The search for 11-year-old Teo continued yesterday, though rescuers are not optimistic of finding him alive after his father - who was in the sea with his son - told them he slipped from a float and into the sea last Friday.

After hearing her husband had been found, Sharin Bugeja let out a scream of joy, her brother Michael Grech told The Sunday Times.

She has been staying at his home since reporting that her husband's boat, the Simshar, was missing.

"I was standing outside my house when the news about Simon broke and, at the time, my sister was upstairs and I heard her shout from there... We were both elated," her brother said.

The media erroneously reported that Teo was also alive. The statement was retracted soon after, leaving the family with a feeling of false hope and immense disappointment.

"We were joyful and crying at the same time. We were now concerned that if Teo was alive, he was all alone. We still don't know what the situation is," Mr Grech said.

Father and son were on board the vessel when an explosion ripped the boat apart early on July 11. Two other members of the crew - Mr Bugeja's father Carmelo, 61, and Noel Carabott, 33, both from Marsaxlokk - have been confirmed dead and an Ethiopian man is also believed to have perished after the accident.

Mr Grech said that Teo's six-year-old brother, Aiden, had not been informed of the accident, since the family were trying to shield him from the ordeal.

But Mr Grech said the child seemed to sense something was wrong and was constantly asking when his father and Teo would return. Simon and Teo set off on a fishing trip with the others almost two weeks ago, on July 7.

They were due to return on July 11. But when they failed to show up by the following evening, concerned relatives raised the alarm.

Intensive searches, led by the Armed Forces with the cooperation of fishermen, were launched and the country held its breath as it awaited news of their fate.

The first evidence of tragedy emerged when Mr Carabott's corpse was discovered late on Thursday. Then Carmelo's body was found on Friday about 30 miles away. The police confirmed they had drowned.

However, against all odds, on Friday evening, Simon was spotted by Maltese fishermen who were searching for him aboard the trawler Grecale and he was flown to Mater Dei Hospital at about 7.45 p.m.

Simon told them that Teo was still alive that morning. However, later in the day, his son slipped off the raft into the water and his father did not have the strength to save him.

Shortly after the explosion, Simon had fastened a piece of polystyrene on each of his son's arms to keep him afloat - just as he had done with his father Carmelo who, sources said, was not a good swimmer.

Simon also told rescuers that a helicopter had passed over on Thursday morning, but failed to spot them despite his frantic efforts to attract the pilot's attention by waving a cloth.

Clearly a pillar of solidarity and support, Mr Grech was with his sister when she saw her husband for the first time at the hospital.

"It was a very nice moment... seeing my sister happy. When she was happy I rejoiced with her and when she cried, I cried with her."

Mr Grech said Simon seemed to be a little better yesterday and was more coherent - though he has kidney problems due to severe dehydration as well as injuries caused by the polystyrene which he had used to make a makeshift raft.

Mr Grech said Simon was constantly mentioning his father and his son.

"He saw his father die... and then he lost sight of his son... he tried to help them all."

On Friday, Simon had told rescuers that, as the crew were returning to Malta in the early morning of last Friday week, they heard a bang in one of the engines. When he went down to check, an explosion ripped the boat apart and the crew ended up in the water.

After having tried, in vain, to inflate a life raft, Simon did what he could to ensure the crew did not drown. Simon instructed them not to drink sea water but all the others - with the exception of his son - succumbed to the temptation. On Saturday, the Eritrean member of the crew died while the next member to lose his life was Mr Carabott who passed away on Sunday. On Monday, Carmelo also succumbed.

The Simshar tragedy has stunned the close-knit village of Marsaxlokk, the hometown of the Bugejas and Mr Carabott.

One fisherman said: "They've been fishermen since I can remember... every person who lives in Marsaxlokk knows one or the other."

Neighbours said that, on hearing the news that father and son were alive, one man in the road let out a loud cry of joy that reverberated around the neighbourhood. However, it was tempered somewhat when reports about Teo were corrected.

One family said they all cried in front of the television as the news unfolded. One man said he could not sleep as he kept imagining what the child was going through.

Some members of the fishing community criticised the Armed Forces' rescue operations. One man said he was "angry" and could not understand how the AFM, with the help of the US aircraft and Italian Navy, had not spotted anything in seven days.

AFM Commander Carmel Vassallo said, however, that he was confident his men had put everything into the search and rescue mission.

They had even roped in Italian and American help and asked the Tunisian and Libyan authorities for assistance.

He added that his men had carried out the searches available from the scant information based on the Simshar's last signal, and had covered 3,900 square nautical miles in their search.

One fisherman said he cannot recall a worse tragedy at sea and was surprised that it happened to the Simshar - Marsaxlokk's newest fishing boat.

Boats had been lost before but they always were found with the crew on board. He added that Simon's account had, at least, put an end to the speculation that had been going on over the past few days when it was rumoured that the Simshar may have been attacked by pirates, immigrants or the Sicilian Mafia.

"At least we can go back to work without such fears at the back of our minds," he said.

The external celebrations of the feast of Our Lady of Pompeii in Marsaxlokk - due on August 3 - are expected to be called off as a mark of respect to the victims.

In a statement to the media, the Pastoral Commission in the Working World expressed its solidarity with the relatives of the fishermen.

The search for Teo and the Eritrean fisherman continued yesterday.

A man's body was found in the area yesterday but at the time of going to print it was yet to be identified.