The SOS Mediterranée Ocean Viking ship has rescued around 250 people in the Mediterranean Sea in the last few hours, adding to the approximately 120 people rescued on Tuesday in the same region, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) announced.
SOS Mediterranée reported on the social network X that the first rescue involved 53 survivors, including children, who were on a boat located south of the Italian island of Lampedusa.
The 53 survivors, including women and children, all weak and dehydrated, reported spending three days at sea. Many had fuel burns. They had set out from Sfax, Tunisia. pic.twitter.com/frgBJnGvCB
— SOS MEDITERRANEAN (@SOSMedIntl) July 10, 2024
The Italian Rescue Coordination Centre (ITMRCC) requested the assistance of SOS Mediterranée for a ship that was about to sinkAccording to the NGO, the rescued people were later transferred to an Italian Coast Guard ship.
“The 53 survivors, including women and children, were all weak and dehydrated and later said they had spent three days at sea (…). Many suffered burns from the fuel. The migrants left Sfax, a city in Tunisia,” says SOS Mediterranée.
The European NGO said that shortly afterwards, a wooden boat was located between the areas of responsibility of Tunisia and Malta, in which 98 people were rescued, including three children. During this rescue another boat was found and 43 people were saved, including five children.
On Wednesday afternoon, the NGO received an alert and located another boat carrying around 50 people, all suffering from heat stroke and dehydration.
This afternoon, #VikingOcean received a distress alert from @alarm_phone. Shortly after, an overcrowded fiberglass boat was seen. ITMRCC ordered our crew to stabilize it. ~50 people suffered heatstroke and dehydration.
An Italian coast guard unit completed the rescue. pic.twitter.com/kthKNVxKZ2
— SOS MEDITERRANEAN (@SOSMedIntl) July 10, 2024
“A unit of the Italian Coast Guard completed the rescue,” the European organisation added.
This Thursday, the Spanish Government delegation in the Balearic Islands reported that Three boats with 46 people arrived at the archipelago in the last few hourstwo in Formentera and a third south of the island of Cabrera.
Source: Observadora
