Rafhat Hasima, 41, survived the trip along with his wife Frial and their eldest son Anass but they are still missing two other sons who were with them on the ill-fated boat trip from Libya.

He told Times of Malta yesterday that a Syrian national who also survived the voyage had saved his 13-year-old son, Ahmad, and handed him over to a rescuer. A woman had also told him that she had seen his other son, Mohammed, nine, following the rescue.

“Hope is the last to die. People have told me they saw them after the rescue so I’m pretty sure they’re alive. Take a photo of me so that if they happen to see your newspaper, they’ll know I am here waiting for them, hoping that one day we will be reunited,” Mr Hasima said with a tear in his eye.

mxuereb@timesofmalta.com