Mediterranean Sea
Rescue ship brings 339 boat migrants to Italy
Saved: A total of 440 boat migrants were in distress off Malta – the “Geo Barents” took them on. photo
© —/MSF/dpa
High seas had made the rescue operation of the “Geo Barents” a dangerous undertaking. The crew needed more than eleven hours to accommodate the people who got into distress off Malta.
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 on Friday morning.
The “Geo Barents” originally took 440 people on board on Wednesday night who had previously gotten into distress in international waters near Malta. However, Italian authorities took about 100 people on an Italian naval vessel before arriving in Brindisi, off the coast of Sicily.
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.
Dangerous use in rough seas
The complex rescue operation turned out to be very dangerous because of the high seas and lasted more than eleven hours, it was said. 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.
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 (more than 6900).
Italian data. Ministry of the Interior Tweet Doctors Without Borders (Italian)