A young girl, approximately 11 years old, was rescued early Wednesday off the coast of Lampedusa by the Trotamar III, a migrant-rescue sailboat. She is believed to be the sole survivor of a shipwreck.
The vessel she had been travelling on carried 45 passengers who departed from Sfax, Tunisia, according to rescuers. The girl, reportedly from Sierra Leone, said the boat sank during a storm.
Rescue Effort in the Mediterranean
The Trotamar III, operated by the NGO Compass Collective, rescued the girl at sea around 3:20 am during a separate operation. She was found wearing a life vest and clinging to a life buoy. The crew of six brought her safely to Lampedusa, where she arrived at 6:00 am.
This rescue followed a night of intense arrivals, with 356 migrants landing on the Sicilian Island aboard five other boats.
Hundreds More Rescued Overnight
Among the boats intercepted overnight, the largest carried 111 passengers from Egypt, Eritrea, Pakistan, Syria, Sudan, and Somalia. It included 13 women and 11 minors. The remaining boats carried between 45 and 87 passengers each, hailing from Bangladesh, Syria, Morocco, Sudan, and Iran.
All of the passengers reported departing from Libya.
Italian port authorities, finance police, and Frontex officials coordinated the rescues. Efforts are ongoing to assist the survivors and investigate the circumstances that left one young girl as the sole survivor of the shipwreck.
