Emergency Life Support For Civilian War Victims ONG ONLUS
Emergency Life Support For Civilian War Victims ONG ONLUS
05/04/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/04/2024 04:37
Life Support Rescues 87 People in Central Mediterranean
On the evening of 3 May 2024 at approximately 9:15pm, EMERGENCY's Life Support vessel concluded a rescue operation of a boat in difficulty in the Libyan SAR zone. The operation resulted in the rescue of 87 people who had departed from Zawiya (north-western Libya) 20 hours earlier and were without food and water. The boat on which they were on was adrift and overcrowded; it was the Hummingbird2 aircraft operated by Pilotes Volontaires that alerted the EMERGENCY ship.
"We went to the spot that was reported to us and launched our RHIBs into the water," says Domenico Pugliese, commander of Life Support. "The boat was overcrowded, it was taking on water, the tubes of the dinghy were deflated. In total, we rescued 87 people. The Italian authorities have assigned us the port of Naples where we will arrive late morning on Monday 6 May".
The 87 people rescued come from Sudan, Nigeria, Niger, South Sudan, Eritrea, Bangladesh, Mali, Togo, Ghana, Liberia, Chad, Cameroon, Senegal and Ivory Coast, countries affected by conflicts and serious economic, political and social crises.
Among them are eight women, one of whom is pregnant, and 17 children - 14 of whom are unaccompanied minors.
After concluding the rescue operations and notifying the relevant authorities, the Italian MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre) assigned the port of Naples as the de Place of Safety, with arrival scheduled for the morning of Monday 6 May.
"The health conditions of those rescued seem good," reports Sara Chessa, nurse on board EMERGENCY's Life Support. "We immediately took charge of the most vulnerable cases: a pregnant woman in her fourth month and a diabetic boy. The children on board are doing well despite the difficult journey they faced and the previous traumas".
Life Support, with a crew of seafarers, doctors, mediators and rescuers, has been operating in the Central Mediterranean since December 2022 and has completed its 19th mission. During this time it has rescued a total of 1,631 people.