Status: 04/07/2023 5:43 p.m
More than 400 migrants rescued from distress have reached Italy. The rescue ship “Geo Barents” rescued people in the Mediterranean on Wednesday night.
According to the private aid organization Doctors Without Borders, a total of 339 Mediterranean migrants have landed in the southern Italian city of Brindisi. The organization’s ship reached the port after a day-long crossing.
The “Geo Barents” originally took 440 people on board on Wednesday night who had previously gotten into distress in international waters near Malta. However, the Italian authorities took about 100 people on an Italian naval ship before arriving in Brindisi.
rescue in difficult circumstances
The crew of the ship were made aware of the emergency when they were heading north to protect themselves from bad weather. As a result, the “Geo Barents” changed course and came to the aid of the people in the international waters off Malta, “Doctors Without Borders” had announced.
In an operation lasting more than eleven hours, around 440 men, women and children were brought on board. Before leaving for Brindisi, an unconscious person due to severe dehydration had to be flown to Malta by helicopter. Now three people with suspected broken bones are being treated – others are showing signs of burns, the Ansa news agency reported.
Number of crossings increases
The people who have now disembarked in the Apulian Adriatic city of Brindisi are said to come from Syria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Somalia and Sri Lanka. Among them were 24 unaccompanied minors. Like many migrant boats, they started from the coast of Libya.
Despite the highly dangerous crossing across the Mediterranean, many people continue to make their way to Europe. The Ministry of the Interior in Rome counted more than 28,000 people who had reached Italy on boats this year – more than four times as many as in the same period last year, when there were more than 6,900.