During an operation in the Mediterranean, sea rescuers recovered ten dead bodies from the interior of a refugee boat. The crew of the sailing ship nadir discovered the dead in the water-filled lower deck of a wooden boat, the operating association Resqship announced on Monday in Hamburg. 51 refugees and migrants were rescued during the operation on Monday night south of the Italian island of Lampedusa.
According to the information, the crew of the nadir the unseaworthy wooden boat after an emergency call from the Alarmphone initiative. The people in the lower deck suffocated from petrol fumes or fainted from them and drowned in the flooded hull, said skipper Ingo Werth. Two unconscious people were rescued alive from the lower deck. According to Resqship, all survivors were handed over to the Italian coast guard on Monday morning.
The crew of the nadir The refugees and migrants had reportedly started from Libya. Half of them were from Bangladesh, it was said. People from Pakistan, Syria and Egypt were also on board the wooden boat.
Another boat capsized – many missing
Another accident occurred on Monday night around 100 miles off the southern Italian mainland. According to the newspaper “Avvenire”, at least 50 people are missing after a sailing boat sank. Twelve people were rescued and taken to Roccella Ionica in Calabria.
The Mediterranean is one of the most dangerous escape routes in the world. Refugees and migrants from North African countries such as Libya or Tunisia repeatedly attempt the crossing to Europe in boats that are often barely seaworthy.
Since the beginning of the year, at least 923 people have died or are missing during the crossing, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). nadir Resqship, an association founded in 2017, monitors refugee movements in the Mediterranean. The 19-meter-long motor sailor repeatedly comes to the aid of refugees in distress at sea.