A boat with around 400 migrants stuck in the middle of nowhere between Malta and Libya is slowly sinking. Alarm Phone, a website that helps refugees in need of rescue informed about the incident on Twitter saying it had received a call from the boat, late in the night.
Alarm Phone said the boat had run out of fuel and migrants were using buckets to throw out the water. It added that the people on board were panicking after the captain left the ship while several required medical attention, including a pregnant woman.
“A woman told us of serious conditions on board: the captain has left the ship and no one is able to get the boat going again; many people have medical care needs, including a child, a pregnant woman, and a person with a physical disability,” read one of the tweets.
Una donna ci ha riferito gravi condizioni a bordo: il capitano ha lasciato la nave e nessuno è in grado di rimettere in moto la barca; molte persone hanno necessità di cure mediche, tra cui un bambino, una donna incinta e una persona con disabilità fisica. #NonLasciateleAnnegare!
— Alarm Phone (@alarm_phone) April 9, 2023
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As of the last update, the boat was in the Maltese Search and Rescue area (SAR) but it was unclear if the Maltese authorities were taking any action in launching a rescue operation.
Another NGO named Sea-Watch International said it was carrying out searches for boats in distress in the Mediterranean Sea, including the one flagged by Alarm Phone.
Previous instances
Notably, this is not the first instance when North African migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean to enter Europe have faced such a situation. On Saturday, At least 20 migrants have gone missing off the coast of Tunisia, as they tried to cross the treacherous Mediterranean to Italy.
Although the coast guard managed to rescue 17 others from the same boat off the southern city of Sfax, the others were still untraceable. Of the 17 saved, two are in critical condition, said Sfax court judge Faouzi Masmousdi.
Earlier this week, 440 migrants were rescued from an overcrowded fishing boat in the international waters off Malta. The complex operation to rescue the migrants took over 11 hours.
The migrants on board spent four days at sea without any assistance, the last two without any food or water after setting sail from eastern Libya.
(With inputs from agencies)
