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The sea rescue ship "Sea-Eye 4" (archive picture)
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Bernd Wüstneck / dpa
The German rescue ship "Sea-Eye 4" with 223 rescued people on board is still waiting in the Mediterranean to be assigned a safe harbor to moor.
The ship of the private aid organizations Sea-Eye and Mission Lifeline has been cruising around the Italian island of Lampedusa in the past few days.
To protect against bad weather, Sicily was then headed for, as Sea-Eye announced on Twitter on Sunday.
According to the Regensburg Association, there are 223 rescued persons on the "Sea-Eye 4", including seven pregnant women and eight children.
Some people are injured and need medical treatment.
A five-year-old boy crouched in a small boat for three days before being rescued.
The rescuers wrote that he could hardly walk because of severe pain.
The ship "Rise Above" of the Dresden organization Mission Lifeline 66 was also looking for a port off Sicily for several days with rescued people on board.
Late on Sunday afternoon, the organization announced on Twitter that it had been assigned a port.
Many people dare to make the dangerous crossing across the Mediterranean in the hope of a better life in the EU.
They mostly reach Italy.
As of Sunday, the authorities counted more than 63,700 refugees who arrived on Italian coasts in 2021.
According to UN figures, almost 23,000 people have died in the Mediterranean since 2014.
The sea rescuers are severely criticizing Malta.
According to the helpers, many people are found in the rescue zone of the Mediterranean state, but Malta does not respond to requests for help.
sol / dpa
