More than 400 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean sea off the Tunisian coast

Published on : 08/01/2021 – 14:58

More than 400 migrants aboard a wooden boat were rescued by three NGOs in the central Mediterranean, on the night of Saturday July 31 to Sunday August 1, bringing to nearly 600 the number of people collected during the weekend, announced SOS Mediterranean.

“The rescue carried out in international waters was perilous, the large wooden boat in which more than 400 people were found was taking the water,” said a spokesperson for the European NGO SOS Méditerranée, which chartered the Ocean Viking, a rescue vessel at sea.

The survivors were distributed over three boats: the Sea-Watch 3 of the NGO Sea-Watch, the Nadir of the NGO ResQship and the Ocean Viking, all three having participated in the rescue which lasted until the early hours of the morning.

More than 1,100 deaths in the Mediterranean during the first half of 2021

This is the fifth rescue operation carried out by the Ocean Viking since Saturday. The ship which had already taken in 196 people during various rescues off Libya now has 449 survivors on board. Among them, 28 women, two of whom are pregnant, and 81 minors, 66 of whom are unaccompanied. They will receive care like those who found refuge on the Sea-Watch 3, specifies SOS Méditerranée.

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 1,146 people died at sea in the first half of 2021 while trying to reach Europe.

SOS Méditerranée claims to have rescued more than 30,000 people since February 2016, first with the Aquarius, then the Ocean Viking.

With AFP