Trawler survivor ‘relieved’ as brother’s body found

THE survivor of the sinking of the Tit Bonhomme was yesterday granted a heartfelt wish — to send his brother’s body home to his family.

The body of father-of-two Wael Mohamad, 32, from the Egyptian port of Rossetta, was recovered yesterday morning by a local dive crew.

His brother Abdo Mohamad, who survived by clinging to a life jacket as the 60ft trawler foundered, promised to tell his niece and nephew about their father. “I am relieved. It’s been difficult,” he said.

Earlier, after identifying his brother’s body, there were harrowing scenes as he was comforted by family members on the pier. He thanked those involved in the search. “It is a debt we will never be able to pay back,” he said.

Abdo said God would decide whether he would ever return to sea as a fisherman.

“I will still fight to make a living, wherever that may be,” he said.

Cork-based Muslim spiritual leader Morad Gharib, a cousin of Wael Mohamad, wept openly after an Egyptian prayer service behind the hearse. “This is just beyond belief in our culture, for a parent to bury a child, nothing is more difficult.”