Aid agency SOS Mediterranee has rescued 158 people from two overcrowded inflatable boats in distress in the central Mediterranean. The crew of the Ocean Viking boarded the migrants in the Libyan search and rescue zone on Thursday morning, the organization writes on Twitter.
Among the rescued were six pregnant women, several children and a baby just three months old. The volunteers carried an injured man on a stretcher onto the ship. According to their own statements, the people had spent up to nine hours at sea, it said.
According to the Spanish organization Open Arms, her sailing yacht “Astral” encountered two boats carrying a total of more than 110 migrants in distress on Wednesday. She warned the Italian authorities.
The MSF vessel Geo Barentsz was assigned a safe harbor on Wednesday after a week of waiting, the organization said. The crew is allowed to bring the approximately 470 boat migrants rescued in the Mediterranean to Augusta in Sicily. The day before, the German Sea-Watch rescuers had brought 145 rescued people there.
Time and again people are making their way from the coasts of North Africa across the Mediterranean to the EU. Italy is a popular destination, where nearly 15,900 migrants have arrived in boats so far this year as of Wednesday, according to data from the interior ministry in Rome. For the same period last year, that number was about 2,500 lower.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
