An 11-year-old girl was rescued from the Med after three days of clinging to tire tubes
An 11-year-old girl has been rescued after clinging to inner tubes for three days in stormy Mediterranean weather.
Rescuers from the non-governmental organization Compass Collective said they were on their way to another emergency when they heard his calls for help.
The unnamed girl, from Sierra Leone, told them that she had gone with 44 other people from Sfax, Tunisia. Their boat had sunk and all the other migrants were presumed dead.
Thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe die during the treacherous Mediterranean journey every year.
The young migrant had a light life jacket and two inner tubes around his waist [Compass Collective]
Compass Collective spokeswoman Katja Tempel told the BBC that rescuers aboard the Trotamar III found the Sierra Leonean migrant wearing a light jacket and two tire tubes around his waist around 03:20 (02:20 GMT) on Wednesday.
The girl told them that the metal boat she was on sank in seconds during a strong storm with 3.5m-high (11.5ft) waves and that she – and two others – were together in the water for a while but never met again. .
Rescuers handed him over to Italian authorities on the island of Lampedusa, where he can walk and talk.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says 30,955 migrants have died – or gone missing – crossing the Mediterranean since it began recording statistics 10 years ago.
Italy has struggled, receiving more than 63,000 this year alone, according to data released by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.
These numbers have declined, however, in part due to the strict policies of Italy’s right-wing government of Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni.
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