German NGO rescues 800 in six operations, heading to Italy
ABC News
A rescue ship carrying nearly 400 migrants picked up another 400 people from a two-tier wooden boat that had started to sink overnight in the central Mediterranean Sea
MILAN -- A rescue ship carrying nearly 400 migrants picked up another 400 people from a two-tier wooden boat that had started to sink overnight in the central Mediterranean Sea, a German charity that operates the ship said Thursday.
The nongovernmental organization Sea-Eye said a distress call from the crowded boat originated in Malta's search and rescue area, and that Maltese authorities failed to respond. The island nation's search and rescue area covers a broad swath of the central Mediterranean, including the waters surrounding Italy’s southernmost island of Lampedusa and part of the corridor between Libya and Sicily.
Seeing that “no other help was available to people in acute danger,’’ the rescue ship Sea-Eye 4 traveled for about six hours to reach the rickety boat, which had a leak and was taking on water, the Germany charity said. Another ship, Rise Up, also responded but did not take on any migrants.
“Several people were in the water without life jackets and had to be rescued directly from the sea,’’ said Sea-Eye, which operates the rescue ship along with the NGO German Doctors. It said one person had to be resuscitated while a lifeboat.
