NGO rescues 120 migrants off Libyan coast
11:06, 22/01/2021, FridayU: Update: 11:11, 22/01/2021, Friday
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SOS Mediterranee’s search vessel rescues migrants from a dangerously overcrowded rubber boat
More than 100 migrants were rescued Thursday by French NGO SOS Mediterranee off the Libyan coast.
“The crew on #OceanViking rescued 120 people from a dangerously overcrowded rubber boat in distress 36 NM off the Libyan coast,” the group said on Twitter. “Among the survivors are four small children, the youngest is only one month old. The survivors are visibly shaken and exhausted.”
Two UN agencies said Wednesday that at least 43 people were killed in a tragic shipwreck off the coast when their vessel capsized.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said it was the first shipwreck in 2021 along the Central Mediterranean route.
Hundreds of migrants were killed last year attempting to cross the Central Mediterranean, where the highest number of fatalities along a single migration journey worldwide occurred.
The IOM and UNHCR fear the actual number who perished during 2020 could be much higher due to the limited ability to monitor routes.
