Ship rescues 196 migrants in the Mediterranean

L ‘“Ocean Viking”The rescue ship at sea of ​​the European NGO SOS
The Mediterranean Sea, collected on Saturday
196 immigrants who were on “boats in danger” off Libya. The organization SOS Mediterranean said that the ship “Ocean Viking” rescued for the first time on Saturday morning 57 people on board a “rubber boat in distress” that was sailing in international waters off Libya.

Then in the afternoon, the crew made two more rescues in the same area: around noon, 54 people in an inflatable boat, including women, to safety. “Some of the survivors suffered from fuel burns,” the NGO adds.

Among the survivors are at least two pregnant women

A little later, another 64 people were rescued from a wooden boat. Then a fourth rescue took place, following an alert from the Seabird plane of the NGO Sea Watch. Twenty-one people were rescued, including seven women and three young men who were on a wooden boat, bringing the number of survivors aboard the rescue ship to 196. Among them are at least two pregnant women.

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 lives since February 2016, first with Aquarius, then Ocean Viking.