Four victims of the 7 June shipwreck identified and repatriated to Ethiopia

Nearly three months after eleven migrants who died at sea were recovered by Maltese maritime forces, four Ethiopian victims have been identified and their bodies repatriated. Their identification follows a lengthy DNA process that required their families abroad to provide genetic profiles before the Maltese authorities could release the remains.

A brief religious ceremony was held at the Mater Dei Hospital chapel on 26 August 2026 before the remains were transported to their final destination in Ethiopia. Led by a Decon from Debre Selam Medhanialem Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Malta. Photo provided to African Media by the Ethiopian community in Malta.

Four Ethiopian nationals who died in the 7 June shipwreck east of Malta have been identified and repatriated to Ethiopia, according to information provided by members of Malta's Ethiopian community.

The four victims have been identified to African Media by their first names as Legesse, Helen, Almaz and Abebu. Their bodies were repatriated to Ethiopia on 26 August, following a mortuary ceremony in Malta.

African Media has contacted the Malta Police Force seeking official confirmation of the repatriation as well as the victims' full names, gender and ages. No response had been received at the time of publication.

The development comes after weeks of efforts by relatives and members of the Ethiopian community in Malta to complete the identification process. Maltese investigators previously explained to African Media that victims could not be officially identified or their bodies released to families without a confirmed DNA match.

For families in Ethiopia, this meant obtaining certified DNA profiles and having them transmitted to Malta for comparison with samples taken from the deceased. Members of the Ethiopian community had also raised funds to assist families with the process and, if identification was successful, with the repatriation of the bodies.

The four coffins containing the bodies of victims of the 7 June shipwreck are loaded into a van ahead of their repatriation to Ethiopia. Inside are the remains of four young people who lost their lives attempting to cross the Mediterranean, a route on which thousands of migrants have died or gone missing over the years. Photo provided to African Media by the Ethiopian community in Malta.

The four were among eleven people, three men and eight women whose bodies were recovered after a migrant boat was reported in distress approximately 50 nautical miles east of Malta on 7 June. Fifty-three people survived the incident.

When African Media first reported on the case, the eleven dead remained publicly nameless. For four of the victims, the completion of the identification process has now allowed their families to reclaim their bodies and, finally, bury them by name.