After the migrant boats he was traveling on sank off the coast of Italy, an 11-year-old girl managed to survive three days in rough seas by clinging to two tire inner tubes, according to a charity.
The nonprofit stated in a statement Wednesday that the youngster was probably the only one of 45 people on board when her boat sank off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa. The girl was found by coincidence by the Trotamar III, a boat owned by the refugee rescue organization Compass Collective.
Matthias Wiedenlbert, the captain of the Trotamar III, stated in a press statement from the German charity that it was a remarkable coincidence that we heard the child’s voice even though the engine was operating.
After hearing the child’s cries at 3:20 a.m. local time, the crew acted quickly to save her in the dark, notifying the rescue control center in Rome, Italy, before transferring her to the Lampedusa rescue service.
Prior to the days-long storm that stopped many rescue boats from leaving, the 11-year-old’s boat had sailed from Sfax, a port city on the central coast of Tunisia.
The Sierra Leonean girl informed rescuers that she had not seen the two other individuals in the water since she last spoke with them two days prior.
She had no food or drinking water when she was discovered, but despite being hypothermic, she was alert and attentive, according to Compass Collective. She also had a life jacket and two inner tubes.
Over 24,300 people have died or gone missing along the central Mediterranean route between Tunisia, Libya, Italy, and Malta since 2014, according to the organization’s website, making it one of the world’s most hazardous migration routes.
Since 2014, the International Organization for Migration’s (IOM) Missing Migrants Project has reported that over 30,900 individuals have gone missing or died in the Mediterranean. According to the IOM, a significant number of deaths are probably still unreported.
The crew of the 13-meter-long German Trotamar III occasionally conducts emergency sea rescues, like they did in this instance, but they usually support larger vessels. Since it started operating in August 2023, the ship has rescued 1,653 people in maritime emergency, according to Compass Collective.
“It was hopeless after the storm that lasted for days with… 2.5-meter-high (8-foot) waves,” said Wiedenl Bert, the skipper of the girl’s yacht, while the crew looked for more survivors.
“Our thoughts go to the girl who landed today in Lampedusa, [the] sole survivor of yet another shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea,” said Nicola Dell Arciprete, the head of the U.N. children’s agency Unicef in Italy, in a post on X.
Wednesday, he said, “Every life matters.” We require search and rescue, as well as safe routes. Children’s protection is a responsibility.
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