54 migrants blocked on a rescued oil platform – Liberation
Fifty-four migrants, including young children and a woman who had just given birth, blocked on an abandoned oil platform in the Mediterranean were rescued during the night from Saturday to Sunday June 8, announced the Spanish Open Arms NGO. They were transferred aboard the astral, A ship exploited by this non -governmental organization, which was heading on Sunday to the island of Lampedusa, in the far south of Italy.
These people were on this oil platform for three days, following the sinking of their pneumatic canoe party on Tuesday from Libya, said Open Arms in a press release. On Friday, one of the women gave birth to a boy, while another had given birth a few days before. Two other young children are part of this group, said the NGO.
She announced that the astral had later found 109 other migrants, four of which were in the water. They had also taken the sea in Libya and there were ten children among them. Open Arms said they had provided them with life jackets and that they were then rescued by another boat, the Louise-Michel, Sponsored by artist Banksy. This former French Navy ship took them Sunday to a safe port in Sicily, according to the NGO.
It is not uncommon for people crossing the Mediterranean on overloaded boats Look for refuge on oil platforms. As of June 1, some 23,000 migrants had reached Italy by sea since the start of the year, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
