The open arms search and rescue ship rescued, in 24 hours, 372 people from precarious boats in the central Mediterranean and recovered the body of a man killed by traffickers, revealed that non-governmental organization (NGO).
The latest rescue was of a group of 294 people, including 43 women and 60 children, who they were at sea in a wooden boat for four days, and most “showed obvious symptoms of dehydration”said the founder of the Spanish NGO, Oscar Camps.
The ship is now looking for a safe harbor for the rescued people, some in need of medical attention, NGO spokeswoman Laura Lanuza said, adding that requests for a safe harbor in Malta had already been made.
In total, Open Arms carried out three rescues in 24 hours, with the largest rescue of 294 people, mostly Egyptians, in a night operation that lasted nearly five hours this morning.
Before that, Open Arms rescued 59 migrants from Syria, Egypt, Sudan and Eritrea, including 10 minors, from an oil platform in Tunisian waters, where they arrived by boat.
In the boat carrying them was the wrapped body of a migrant who had been shot while still on land.revealed Lanuza, detailing that “traffickers forced people to take the body away.”
On Saturday, Open Arms rescued 19 people from a rubber boat off Libya, including 16 people from Syria.
An Associated Press photographer aboard the Open Arms reported that during each rescue, desperate people threw themselves into the water, complicating the operation.
Source: Observadora
