Two children who were cruelly orphaned in the sea tragedy off Lampedusa on October 11 were buried behind the Mosque in Paola this afternoon following prayers by the Muslim community.

Although the mosque was packed with fellow Muslims, who prayed on the two white coffins, there were no relatives praying for the young boys. The identity of one of them, believed to be three to four years old, is still unknown.

Although it is believed his father may still be alive and now in Germany, authorities have not yet managed to contact him.

The other boy, 11-year-old Sayed Mahmoud from Damascus, had his seven-year-old brother Mohammed Fateh at the ceremony. However, the young boy was not told that the boy being buried was his brother.

The boys’ parents and their sisters are still missing and the seven-year-old is living at a children’s home in Fgura.

The Muslim community are trying to get in touch with the boy’s uncle in Egypt to get him over to Malta to see the boy. At least 34 people died in the tragedy off Lampedusa on October 11 but many others were saved by Maltese and Italian forces.

Another three people who died in the tragedy were buried on October 26.

Imam Mohammed El Sadi called on international powers to give concrete help to Syria. The least they could do, he said, was establish a no fly zone over the country.

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