The ship of the Spanish NGO Open Arms rescued 294 people who were aboard a wooden barge in the central Mediterranean this morning, so it now has 372 migrants on board, the organization reported on its social networks.
The last rescue was that of a barge with 294 people, including 43 women and 60 children, who had been at sea for 4 days and most of them "showed obvious symptoms of dehydration," reported the founder of the NGO, Oscar Camps.
A few hours earlier, the Open Arms had rescued 59 people, including 6 children, who had abandoned their boat and taken refuge in an oil rig.
Among them there was also a corpse, reported the NGO, which requested the urgent evacuation of some of them due to their medical problems.
Last Friday, the Open Arms1 had rescued another boat with 19 people on board, thus carrying 372 migrants.
In the central Mediterranean, waiting for Italy to grant a port also to the humanitarian ship SOS Humanity that sails with another 415 migrants "who urgently need a safe port. Almost half (192) are under 18 years of age, of which 113 are minors not accompanied.
This Saturday the Sea Watch 3 ship of the German NGO of the same name arrived at the port of Reggio Calabria with 428 migrants, after a state of necessity was declared on Friday due to the situation on board.
So far this year, about 66,323 migrants have arrived on Italian shores, compared to 43,043 in the same period of 2021, according to updated data from the Ministry of the Interior.
