Flowers were cast into the sea yesterday to mark 63 years since the tragedy in which 23 people died in the channel betwen Malta and Gozo when the boat they were on capsized in rough seas.
On that fateful day in 1948 only four people survived after the luzzu they were travelling on capsized just before reaching Ħondoq ir-Rummien in Gozo. The boat had left from Marfa. The dead included two policemen and a woman, in the biggest tragedy to hit the channel after World War II.
The tragic event was commemorated yesterday on board a Gozo Channel ship where Mass was celebrated. Relatives of some of the survivors, along with Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono, later threw yellow flowers into the sea.
The Mass was celebrated by Fr Charles Vella. The event, organised by the Gozo Ministry’s committee for national celebrations, was also attended by other Gozitan MPs.
In 1998 a monument commemorating the tragedy was erected at Żewwieqa.