The SOS Mediterranean rescue boat rescued 369 migrants during the night from Sunday to Monday, including 1 infant, 2 children and 110 unaccompanied minors, the NGO said on Twitter.
The migrants were on board "a large wooden boat" spotted "in the Libyan rescue region".
The Ocean Viking, SOS Méditerranée's rescue ship at sea, took in 369 new migrants in the Mediterranean overnight from Sunday to Monday after a sixth rescue operation in a few days, we learned from the NGO. .
The ship now has 572 survivors on board, says SOS Méditerranée on its Twitter account.
One infant, 2 children and 110 unaccompanied minors
The latest rescue involved a "large wooden boat" reported "in distress in the Libyan search and rescue region" late Sunday afternoon, an NGO spokesperson told AFP. This boat was spotted on the radar and then visually around 10 p.m., and the rescue operations then lasted more than 5 hours. Among the 369 people rescued on board, 9 women, 1 infant, 2 children and 110 unaccompanied minors, according to SOS Méditerranée, originating in particular from Egypt, Bangladesh or Eritrea.
That night, in the Libyan search & rescue area, @SOSMedIntl rescued a large wooden boat that was threatening to capsize at any time.
369 people were safely evacuated after more than 5 hours of operation.
572 survivors are now on board the # OceanViking.
pic.twitter.com/9mETVSDwFR
- SOS MEDITERRANEE France (@SOSMedFrance) July 5, 2021
On Sunday afternoon, the Ocean Viking had already come to the aid of 71 migrants in danger on an extremely overloaded wooden boat in the Maltese search and rescue area.
Its occupants were fleeing Libya, which they had left three days earlier and, with no food or water on board, were exhausted by the time of the rescue.
On May 1, the Ocean Viking landed 236 migrants rescued at sea in Sicily.
The ship then spent several weeks in dry dock in Naples, for work, before resuming the sea from Marseille.
EU and Libya recently singled out by the UN
The United Nations recently pinned down Libya and the European Union, calling on them to reform their search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean Sea and claiming that current practices deprive migrants of their rights and dignity, when they do not take away from them. not life.
Since the start of 2021, 866 migrants have lost their lives in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
SOS Méditerranée claims to have rescued more than 30,000 people since February 2016, first with the Aquarius, then the Ocean Viking.