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

Update - 2 September 2026 with additional information from Police.

Nearly three months after eleven migrants died at sea east of Malta, police have confirmed that seven victims have now been positively identified through DNA analysis. Four Ethiopian victims were repatriated to Ethiopia, while three Somali victims were buried in Malta. DNA testing continues in an effort to identify three more of the eleven people who died.

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.

The Malta Police Force has confirmed that four Ethiopian nationals who died in the 7 June shipwreck east of Malta were positively identified following DNA comparative analysis and subsequently repatriated to Ethiopia for burial.

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.

Police also confirmed that three Somali nationals have been positively identified. Their remains were buried in Malta at the Mosque Cemetery. The personal details of the identified victims have been communicated to the relevant authorities in their respective countries of origin.

The identifications followed comparative DNA analysis carried out by a court-appointed expert. Police said that, once the seven positive identifications were established, a written application was made to the Inquiring Magistrate for authorisation to release the bodies.

The development comes after weeks of efforts by relatives and members of the Ethiopian and Somali communities 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 the victims' families living abroad, including relatives in Ethiopia and Somalia, 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 seven 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.

DNA analysis is continuing on three further samples. Police said that if positive matches are obtained, ten of the eleven people whose bodies were recovered will have been identified.​ That would leave one of the eleven victims still without a confirmed identity.

When African Media first reported on the case, the eleven dead remained publicly nameless. Seven now have their identities restored and have been laid to rest, four in Ethiopia and three in Malta.