Rescue needs to be coordinated urgently for 110 people on two boats, NGOs AlarmPhone and Sea-Watch said on Friday
110 people in distress, NGOs call for urgent rescue operation
Over 30 hours had passed since a first rescue call, when its spotter plane recovered the vessel on Friday, Sea-Watch International said on Twitter.
#Seabird was able to recover the boat sighted yesterday today. Over 30h have passed since the @alarm_phone distress call. The 32 people are still not rescued. The rescue coordination center #Malta cannot be reached. pic.twitter.com/QPnMw2E9xw
— Sea-Watch International (@seawatch_intl) April 28, 2023
The NGO said the 32 people had still not been rescued, and that Malta’s rescue coordination center could not be reached.
Meanwhile, NGO AlarmPhone reported that 78 people in distress in Malta’s search and rescue area had alerted them on Friday morning.
🆘! ~78 people in distress in #Malta SAR!
— Alarm Phone (@alarm_phone) April 28, 2023
We were alerted by around 78 people this morning. In our last call 3 hours ago, they told us they had water coming in their overcrowded boat & they were panicking. Authorities are informed. Don’t let them drown!
No more deaths at sea! pic.twitter.com/Pbc03u4Ysd
Update 29 April 15:55 | Around 80 people arrived in Lampedusa, NGO AlarmPhone said on Saturday afternoon.
SOS Mediterranee said on Friday night its team of the NGO’s vessel OceanViking had rescued 168 survivors in 3 operations in the Maltese search and rescue area on that day.
