Survivors of Mediterranean rescue say about 50 people died on the trip from Libya, rescuers say

By The Associated Press on March 14, 2024.

MILAN (AP) –

Survivors aboard a deflating rubber dinghy rescued in the central Mediterranean Sea have reported that some 50 people who departed Libya with them a week ago perished during the journey, the humanitarian rescue group SOS Mediterranee said Thursday.

The European charity’s ship Ocean Viking spotted the dinghy with 25 people on board Wednesday. Two were unconscious, and died. The other 23 were in serious condition, exhausted, dehydrated and with burns from fuel on board the boat.

SOS Mediterranee spokesman Francesco Creazzo said that the survivors were all male, 12 of them minors with two of those not yet teen-agers. They were from Senegal, Mali and Gambia.

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