page_title: 1948 Gozo luzzu disaster
section_title: Rescue and recovery efforts
hierarchical_section_title: 1948 Gozo luzzu disaster / Rescue and recovery efforts
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of British C class destroyer HMS Cheviot, on completion.
context_page_description: The 1948 Gozo luzzu disaster occurred on 30 October 1948 when a luzzu fishing boat carrying passengers from Marfa, Malta, to Mġarr, Gozo, capsized and sank in rough seas off Qala, killing 23 of the 27 people on board. Inquiries held after the accident determined that the boat had been overloaded as it was carrying around double its capacity.
context_section_description: The search and rescue operation was undertaken by the police, the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force and some Gozitan civilians. The destroyer HMS Cheviot was sent to the area, as were a torpedo recovery boat and an RAF launch. The sunken luzzu was discovered and it was recovered from the seabed.
  Apart from Attard, three other passengers had managed to swim to shore, while the remaining 23 people on board were killed. One of the survivors had reached the Blata taċ-Ċawl and had to be hoisted up a cliff to safety. The survivors were taken to the Gozo Hospital.
  Seven corpses were recovered by 1 November. RAF aircraft and naval and police vessels continued the search and recovered the remaining bodies over the next few days. Some bodies were found in Fomm ir-Riħ six days after the sinking. Post mortem examinations found that most of the victims died of asphyxia due to drowning, while others died of cerebral contusions and shock.
caption: The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Cheviot was involved in the search and recovery operations
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