The Ocean Viking, the ambulance ship chartered by SOS Méditerranée, rescued 158 migrants off Libya on Thursday, May 19, who were on board two inflatable boats "
unfit for navigation
", the NGO announced in a press release. .
Read alsoShipwreck of migrants: “The triple betrayal”
Among them were six pregnant women and "
several children
", including a three-month-old baby.
A man was also injured, said this European association for search and rescue on the high seas, whose headquarters are in Marseille (south of France).
According to initial reports, they had spent up to nine hours at sea and many were exhausted and in "
emotional distress
", insisted SOS Méditerranée, which operates on board with the help of the International Federation of Red Cross Societies and of the Red Crescent (IFRC).
The central Mediterranean is the most dangerous migration route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The UN agency estimates the number of dead and missing there at 1,553 in 2021.
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