Death at Sea
5 Rich Missing Men Leads to a Multi-Million-Dollar Rescue Operation while 750 Missing Migrants Lacks Action
Click to watch the trailer for "Ghosts of the Abyss" by James Cameron & Bill Paxton
ISLAMABAD – With its grim cinematic elements, including a ticking clock, people running out of oxygen and of course the iconic ocean liner itself — which still captivates the public imagination more than a century after it sank — the search for a submersible that vanished while transporting wealthy tourists to see the wreck of the Titanic has gripped many.
Two of the passengers were from Pakistan, and prayers posted on social media along with extensive television coverage followed suit. However, the response was significantly less than what was felt after a boat carrying hundreds of migrants, many of whom were also from South Asia, capsized off the coast of Greece.
While thestory was captivating for many Middle Eastern countries from which the migrants fled, the disappearance of the submarine has dominated news coverage in most parts of the world and sparked extensive discussion on social media. It is currently the most popular topic on most news websites and has been addressed on morning shows in the United States. In the U.K., the story was prominently featured and King Charles III was kept updated of the situation since one of the passengers on board was a long-time supporter of two of the monarch’s charities.
The wealth of the submarine’s passengers stood in stark contrast to the desperation that drove hundreds of migrants to flee their homes and attempt to go to Italy last week by boat. After one of the worst migrant shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea, more than 500 people are still unaccounted for, including a significantly large number of Pakistanis. The families of the migrants probably took out loans and sold jewellery, buffaloes and cows to send their children to Europe, so they might find better professions.
Ursula von der Leyen, president of the EU commission, said she was “deeply saddened” by the tragedy off the Greek coast and pledged to increase corporation between the European Union and bordering nations to “prevent such tragedies.”
Artist Oliver Jeffers shared his feelings with a cartoon on Tuesday, which marked World Refugee Day. It depicted a news crew focusing its cameras on a vessel under the sea while turning away from people appearing to drown in nearby waters.
Click to watch the trailer for "Human Flow" by Ai WeiWei
Click to watch the trailer for "The Rest" by Ai WeiWei