Nineteen new people, who were trying to reach Europe, were rescued on Monday February 14 by the sea rescue vessel Ocean Viking which now has 247 migrants on board, announced its charterer, the NGO SOS Méditerranée.
Among those rescued in a fiberglass boat in international waters off the coast of Libya are two women and three unaccompanied minors, said the NGO headquartered in Marseille.
247 people saved since Saturday afternoon
During the weekend, some 228 people had already been collected during four separate rescue operations. In all, 247 people have been saved since Saturday afternoon, including 54 minors. Fifty-two are unaccompanied.
A five-month-old baby was also rescued, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), partner on board SOS Méditerranée.
Of sixteen different nationalities, most come from Egypt, Bangladesh, Syria, Ethiopia, Tunisia and Côte d’Ivoire, the IFRC said.
The central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migration route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The UN agency estimates that more than 18,000 migrants have died or disappeared there since 2014, including 1,553 last year.
–
