At approximately 0900 EST, Fawasel Media provided initial indications that a migrant vessel had capsized in the Mediterranean after departing from al-Zawiyah, Libya. According to that publication, the rubber dinghy carrying 135 people had capsized, stranding survivors for a week in the sea. The survivors reported that at least 60 had been confirmed dead.
An Ocean Viking ship rescued the remaining victims, about 25 of them. It is not clear what happened to the remainder of the original manifest. The rescue seems to have been by chance as the Ocean Viking team was patrolling the Libyan Search and Rescue Region. It is not clear if one of the migrants was able to request assistance.
?BREAKING
L'équipe de l'#OceanViking a porté secours à 25 personnes à bord d'une embarcation pneumatique repérée aux jumelles alors qu’elle était à la dérive dans la région de recherche et de sauvetage libyenne (dans les eaux internationales).
Un plan d’aide d’urgence médicale… pic.twitter.com/2lU364EDGr— SOS MEDITERRANEE France (@SOSMedFrance) March 13, 2024
