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Inflatable boat of the "Ocean Viking": The rescue ship was called to numerous missions over the weekend
Photo: Flavio Gasperini / dpa
The rescue ships "Ocean Viking" and "Sea-Watch 3" were repeatedly called out to work on the Mediterranean at the weekend.
In the meantime, the two ships together have more than 700 rescued people on board.
More than 400 refugees were brought to safety by a wooden boat on Sunday night, as the European organization SOS Méditerranée announced on Twitter on Sunday. "The whole night we were busy with Sea-Watch and ResQship with the critical rescue of around 400 people from a large wooden boat that was full of water." The rescue ship "Ocean Viking" alone had been called to six missions.
The rescued would now be cared for on the ships "Ocean Viking" and "Sea-Watch 3".
According to the German sea rescue organization Sea-Watch, the nightly rescue operation lasted five hours.
In another operation, the Sea-Watch helpers rescued 26 other people from distress at sea, as the organization announced on Twitter on Sunday.
"We now have a total of 250 guests on board, who are taken care of by our crew."
"The youngest survivor is only three months old"
The helpers of the "Ocean Viking" have reportedly been called to six rescue missions since Saturday.
During its most recent mission on Sunday, the ship brought 106 more people to safety from a wooden boat that was in distress in the Maltese rescue zone, as the German section of SOS Méditerranée announced on Twitter.
"The youngest survivor is only three months old."
Overall, the number of people rescued on board the "Ocean Viking" rose to 555, as the organization had already taken migrants on board during several rescue missions on Saturday.
In four rescue operations, a total of 196 migrants were saved off the Libyan coast.
According to the organization, these included at least two pregnant women, 28 women and 33 minors, 22 of whom were unaccompanied.
According to the International Organization for Migration, at least 1,146 migrants have died in the dangerous crossing over the Mediterranean since the beginning of the year.
According to official figures, there were more than 1200 fatalities last year.
However, experts assume a high number of unreported cases.
SOS Méditerranée claims to have saved more than 30,000 people since February 2016.
asc / AFP
