Doctors Without Borders (MSF) rescued hundreds of migrants from an overcrowded fishing boat in international waters off Malta after a complex 11-hour operation in stormy seas, the charity has said.
Its Geo Barents vessel struggled with the rescue late on Tuesday, due to the rough weather, and initially could do little more than throw life jackets to the 440 migrants and monitor their situation.
Alarm Phone, a charity that picks up distress calls from migrants crossing the central Mediterranean, had warned two days ago that the boat was in difficulty, prompting MSF's intervention.
The vessel was “practically in the eye” of a storm, facing waves of up to 4.5-5 metres and buffeted by winds of up to 74 kilometres per hour, the Geo Barents's rescue operations chief, Riccardo Gatti, said in an audio message distributed by MSF.
The migrants, including eight women and 30 children, spent four days at sea, the last two without food or water, after setting off from eastern Libya, near Benghazi, on April 1, MSF said.
One of them had fainted due to serious dehydration and was taken to Malta via helicopter, a charity spokeswoman said. She added that the group comprises citizens of Syria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Somalia and Sri Lanka.
Italy migrant boat tragedy — in pictures
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A view of the wreckage of a capsized boat that was washed ashore at a beach near Cutro, southern Italy. AP -
Italian Coastguard officers stand by as rescue crews search for people believed still missing from the migrant shipwreck. AP -
Pieces of the boat on the shore near Cutro. AP -
People say prayers in Crotone, where the coffins of some of the victims were laid out. EPA -
Personal belongings among the wreckage. AP -
People lay tributes in Crotone. Reuters -
Divers of the Firefighters Corps patrol the beach. AFP -
Rescue teams search for people believed to be still missing. AP
MSF said it had been told to take the migrants to the south-eastern Italian port of Brindisi, except for a group of 100 who will be handed over to the Italian coastguard and brought ashore elsewhere.
The Geo Barents is expected to arrive in Brindisi on Friday, Mr Gatti said.
Italy is facing a surge in sea migration from North Africa, with more than 28,000 arrivals in the year to date, compared to about 6,800 in the same period of 2022.
On Monday, the Italian coastguard carried out another difficult rescue as it picked up 32 migrants stuck on a desert islet near Lampedusa island via helicopter.
