Mediterranean: Another 400 refugees rescued from distress at sea


Status: 08/01/2021 2:10 p.m.

During several rescue operations in the Mediterranean, the two ships “Ocean Viking” and “Sea-Watch-3” took a total of around 670 people on board. During the night, 400 refugees were rescued from a wooden boat off Tunisia.

The rescue ships “Ocean Viking” and “Sea-Watch 3” currently have around 670 people rescued from distress in the Mediterranean on board. The rescue organizations SOS Méditerranée and Sea-Watch announced this to the news agency epd.

On Sunday night there was a rescue operation in international waters off Tunisia in cooperation with the “Ocean-Viking”, the “Sea-Watch” and the sailing boat “Nadir” of the German non-governmental organization ResQship, in which around 400 people from a large Wooden boat were added.

Wooden boat full of water

“The whole night we were busy with Sea-Watch and ResQship with the critical rescue of around 400 people from a large wooden boat that was full of water,” said SOS Méditerranée on Twitter.

According to SOS Méditerranée spokeswoman Petra Krischok there are currently 449 people on board the “Ocean Viking”. Another 220 people are currently on board the “Sea-Watch 3”, which has since requested a safe harbor, said Sea-Watch spokesman Oliver Kulikowski of the epd agency.

Unclear whether people drowned

Both the “Sea-Watch 3” and the “Ocean Viking” are currently looking after the survivors on board their ships. There were no medical emergencies, but two adults were extremely exhausted. Neither SOS Méditerranée nor Sea-Watch have found or rescued injured persons according to their own statements: “But we cannot be sure that no one drowned because many people were in the water during the night.”

The ships were also rescued on Friday and Saturday. The “Ocean Viking” reported to have rescued almost 200 people from distress at sea. The private organization Sea-Watch had previously reported two rescue operations with a total of around 90 people.



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