Dozen boat migrants die in voodoo ritual to calm sea

Voodoo rituals have been blamed for the deaths of at least a dozen illegal immigrants who were thrown from a boat near Italy to "calm stormy seas"

Five people were held on suspicion of murder today following claims from survivors that people had been pushed from a boat packed with 400 people.

Another 25 were found dead in the hold. Witnesses told police at least 12 victims, possibly more, were "sacrificed" by people smugglers in a voodoo-style ritual to "cast out the devil and calm stormy seas" that were threatening to engulf the boat. Victims were chosen on the basis of their ethnic origin or nationality, it was alleged.

The boat left Libya in early August, bound for the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa. It was caught in rough seas and escorted into harbour by coastguard vessels after a mayday signal.

Witnesses claimed victims were thrown in after a macabre "magic dance" by several Nigerian women.

Prosecutor Ignazio Fonzo, based in Agrigento, said: "Survivors told us the captain of the boat, a Nigerian, was the leader of the rituals that began after the engine failed.

"One man was selected, taken into the hold and beaten, led back up on deck then thrown into the sea. As this happened prayers, chanting and dancing took place. It was said he was sacrificed to cast out demons and calm the seas. We believe at least a dozen people were thrown alive into the sea."

One survivor, Mohamed Yacoub Ibrahim, said: "I saw a group of Nigerian women carrying out a strange magic ritual and afterwards they pointed at various people. The first was grabbed, had his hands and feet tied and he was then thrown in alive."

The 25 found dead in the hold are believed to have suffocated because of engine fumes and the cramped conditions. Five men were held in a series of raids in south Italy.

Lampedusa has seen a huge influx of illegal immigrants following the Arab Spring with more than 30,000 passing through.