Approximately 40 migrants are feared missing off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa after the sole survivor, an 11-year-old girl, reported that her boat sank three days ago, according to a humanitarian NGO.
“We believe she is the only survivor of the shipwreck and that the other 44 individuals have drowned,” stated Compass Collective, an NGO involved in migrant rescue missions in the Mediterranean, following the girl’s rescue.
The crew of the NGO’s Trotamar III vessel “heard her calls in the dark” early Wednesday morning around 2:20 AM local time (1:20 AM GMT) while responding to another emergency situation.
“The 11-year-old girl, originally from Sierra Leone, had been floating in the water for three days with two makeshift life vests made from air-filled inner tubes and a simple life jacket,” the NGO added.
Dr. Mauro Marino, who examined her, informed the daily La Repubblica that he estimated the girl had spent approximately 12 hours in the water.
“She had neither drinking water nor food with her and was suffering from hypothermia; however, she was responsive and oriented,” he noted.
Italian news agency ANSA reported that coast guard and police vessels were searching the area where the boat capsized on Wednesday, but so far they have found neither bodies nor any traces of clothing.
