A tragic shipwreck off Malta in October 2013 provided the theme to a touching documentary aired on BBC World Service this week.

The documentary revolves around the dramatic story of Hamad Alroosan, the Syrian boy first captured on camera by Times of Malta’s photographer Darrin Zammit Lupi. Hamad and his family recently located to Germany.

It also features Rfaat Hazeema and his family, who were on the same ill-fated boat.

The story focuses on two families trying to escape war in Syria, desperate to start a new life in Europe. In October 2013, dozens of migrants aboard that boat died, as it travelled across the Mediterranean Sea, before some eventually made it to Malta.

Click the link below to listen to the documentary.

https://soundcloud.com/bbc-world-service/surviving-the-most-lethal-route-in-the-world