Girl, 11, rescued in Med after three days clinging to tire tubes

An 11-year-old girl has been rescued after clinging to inner tubes for three days in stormy Mediterranean weather.

Rescuers from the non-governmental organization Compass Collective said they were on their way to another emergency when they heard her calls for help.

The unnamed girl, from Sierra Leone, told them that she had left with 44 other people from Sfax in Tunisia. Their boat had sunk and the other migrants were presumed dead.

Thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe die on the terrible journey in the Mediterranean every year.

Compass Collective spokeswoman Katja Tempel told the BBC that rescuers on board the Trotamar III ship had found the young Sierra Leonean migrant wearing a simple life jacket and two inner tubes around his central at approximately 03:20 (02:20 GMT) on Wednesday.

The girl told them that the metal boat she was on sank within seconds when strong storms hit with 3.5m high (11.5ft) waves and that she – and two others – together in the water for a while but lost touch.

Rescuers handed her over to Italian authorities on the island of Lampedusa, where she was able to walk as well as talk.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says 30,955 migrants have died – or are still missing – crossing the Mediterranean since they began recording figures 10 years ago. back

Italy has been heavy, receiving more than 63,000 this year alone, according to data published by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

The numbers have fallen, however, partly due to the hard policies of the right-wing Italian government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.