The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

"Ocean Viking" brings 422 refugees rescued in the Mediterranean to Sicily

2021-02-07T16:16:12.799Z


They come from Mali, Ivory Coast and Sudan: the rescue ship "Ocean Viking" has rescued hundreds of migrants from the Mediterranean in the past few days. Now it is allowed to dock in Sicily.


The "Ocean Viking" on the Mediterranean (archive photo)

Photo: 

Flavio Gasperini / SOS Mediterranee / DPA

Italian authorities have allowed the "Ocean Viking" to call at the port of Augusta.

This enables the private aid ship 422 to bring refugees rescued from distress ashore in Sicily.

This was announced by the operating organization SOS Mediterranee.

A spokeswoman expected the "Ocean Viking" to arrive there in the evening.

The "Ocean Viking" had taken the people on two days in the past week on several missions from boats off Libya.

On Saturday, two people had already been picked up because of serious health problems and flown to Malta in a military helicopter, as reported by SOS Mediterranee.

Eight positive corona tests

The situation on the ship was further aggravated by narrowness and bad weather.

The migrants reportedly included young children, pregnant women and unaccompanied minors.

In addition, eight rescued people tested positive for the corona virus in rapid tests.

Some of the boat migrants come from the Ivory Coast, Mali and Sudan.

"This week, as many people tried to flee from Libya via the central Mediterranean as they have not in months," said rescue coordinator Luisa Albera.

The weather conditions for a crossing were particularly favorable.

Civil war has been raging in Libya for years.

The country has developed into one of the most important transit areas for migrants en route from Africa to Europe.

The trips in small boats across the Mediterranean are very dangerous.

According to official figures, more than 1200 people died in the attempt last year.

However, experts assume a high number of unknown deaths.

According to SOS Mediterranee, the "Ocean Viking" is currently the only support ship of its kind in the central Mediterranean.

The Italian coast guard had set it in Sicily for around six months until January and justified this with safety deficiencies.

SOS Mediterranee, however, spoke of "official harassment".

Icon: The mirror

ply / dpa / AFP

Source: spiegel

All news articles on 2021-02-07

You may like

News/Politics 2024-03-15T15:06:10.988Z
News/Politics 2024-03-15T14:36:35.737Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.