More than 40 migrants are feared dead off Italy's Lampedusa after one 11-year-old survivor said the boat she was on sank, a rescue group said Wednesday.
“We assume that she was the only survivor of the wreck and that the other 44 people drowned. said Compass Collectivewhich helps with migrant rescue missions in the Mediterranean.
The group's Trotamar III vessel heard the girl's “calls in the dark” on Wednesday morning at around 2:20am (0120 GMT) as it headed for another emergency.
“The 11-year-old girl, who is originally from Sierra Leone, had been floating in the water for three days with two life jackets made from air-filled tire tubes and a simple life jacket,” the group said in The statement was also released by Compass Collective pictures of the tire tubes and the rescuers treating the girl.
Compass collection
Mauro Marino, a doctor who examined her, told the daily Republic that he believed the girl was in the sea for about 12 hours.
The girl told rescuers that the metal boat left Sfax, Tunisia. She said the boat sank within seconds when strong storms hit with 11-foot waves and that she – and two others – were together in the water for a while but lost contact, the The BBC reported.
“The girl had no drinking water or food with her and was hypothetical, but reactive and oriented,” Compass Collective said.
A spokesperson for Mediterranean Hope, another charity, told AFP that the girl was recovering in hospital after her rescue.
Agency representatives found the girl “very tired,” spokeswoman Marta Bernardini said.
Italian news agency ANSA reported that coastguards and police boats were searching the area on Wednesday where the shipwreck was found.
“They have not found bodies or traces of clothing yet,” ANSA wrote.
According to the International Organization for Migrationmore than 30,00 migrants have died or are still missing while trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea since it started recording figures 10 years ago. The The BBC reports that Italy has been pregnant, receiving more than 63,000 this year alone, according to data published by the United Nations.
Last year, at least 64 peopleincluding eight children, when their cramped wooden boat ran aground just a few hundred meters off Italy's Calabrian coast and broke apart early in rough seas.
