Life Support | Boat in Distress Rescued in International Waters in Libyan SAR Zone

EMERGENCY'S SAR VESSEL RESCUES A BOAT IN DISTRESS IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS WITHIN THE LIBYAN SAR ZONE.

57 PEOPLE BROUGHT ONBOARD, INCLUDING TWO IN SERIOUS MEDICAL CONDITION AND SEVEN WHO DIED DURING THE CROSSING.

AN URGENT MEDEVAC HAS BEEN REQUESTED FOR THE TWO PEOPLE IN CRITICAL CONDITION.

EMERGENCY REQUESTED A NEARBY PLACE OF SAFETY TO BE ALLOCATED TO PREVENT FURTHER SUFFERING FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN RESCUED.

At 8:07am this morning, Monday 17 August, EMERGENCY's search and rescue vessel Life Support completed a rescue operation involving 57 people. The double-deck wooden boat was first sighted at 6am and rescued in international waters within the Libyan SAR zone.

"At 6.00am, we identified two vessels on radar and then from the bridge using binoculars. As we drew closer, we saw an overcrowded wooden boat and a Libyan patrol boat that was approaching and began heading towards our vessel. A mile away, we contacted them to inform them that the rescue operation was already underway: the Libyan vessel remained on standby to monitor the operation for its entire duration", explains Jonathan Nanì La Terra, head of EMERGENCY's Life Support mission.

"Halfway through the rescue, our team noticed nine people lying on the deck, where other survivors had carried them after retrieving them from the hold, in which they had spent the entire journey. For seven of them, there was nothing that could be done; two of them are in a critical condition due to suffocation."

The survivors reported that they had set off at dawn on 16 August from Zuwara and are originally from Somalia and Egypt.

A total of 50 people were rescued: 45 men and 5 women. Among them are 29 unaccompanied foreign minors: 26 boys and 3 girls.

Nine of the rescued people require medical assistance. Two remain in critical condition due to suffocation, and the crew of Life Support has requested an urgent MedEvac from the relevant authorities, which is now on its way.

As the survivors are already exhausted after a harrowing journey, EMERGENCY urged the relevant authorities to assign a nearby Place of Safety (POS) to prevent further suffering. The assigned POS is Bari.