ROME: An 11-year-old girl from Sierra Leone was rescued overnight after three days at sea as the sole survivor of a shipwreck off the Italian island of Lampedusa, a rescue organization said. said Wednesday.
Germany’s CompassCollective said the crew on their ship were en route to another emergency when they heard screams from the water and picked up the girl around 3 a.m., wearing life jackets and clinging to a boat. pair of tires and tubes.
She told them she had set off from the Tunisian city of Sfax on a metal boat carrying 45 people that sank in a storm.
The charity team looked after the girl and took her to Lampedusa, which is closer to North Africa than the rest of Italy and is often the first stop for migrants.
CompassCollective added that after receiving medical assistance, the girl was transferred to a migrant detention center, where Italian Red Cross staff and volunteers are caring for her.
Nicola Dell’Arciprete, head of the United Nations children’s agency UNICEF in Italy, said: “During this festive period, when most of us are lucky enough to be with our loved ones, thinking about My thoughts go to the girl from Sierra Leone.”
“Another tragedy increases the number of dead and missing in the Central Mediterranean.”
According to the International Organization for Migration, the maritime migration route between Tunisia, Libya, Italy and Malta is one of the most dangerous in the world, with more than 24,300 people missing or dead since 2014.
Italy says its tough approach to immigration is contributing to a decline in arrivals by sea
Also read: Sara Sharif murder case: father, stepmother convicted of brutal murder
From the beginning of the year until now, the country has recorded about 64,000 immigrants, compared to more than 153,000 people during the same period in 2023.
In a similar incident in Spain on Wednesday, at least six migrants died trying to reach Spain’s Canary Islands by precarious boats from West Africa.
Emergency authorities said five of 65 migrants on an open boat that arrived at the small island of El Hierro overnight were found dead, while another migrant was found dead on one of the Three other ships were rescued by the Spanish coast guard.
The number of migrants arriving in Spain’s Canary Islands hit an all-time high for the second year in a row in 2024, and seven islands off northwest Africa are struggling to absorb the influx of arrivals. crowded boats in search of better opportunities in Europe.