Group Of Migrants Was Picked Up Off Malta, Most Probably From Northern Lebanon

Arab News

A group of 61 migrants was picked up by a cargo ship from a sinking vessel in the central Mediterranean.

The migrants have safely reached Crete hours after a severely ill child on the freighter died while being airlifted to the Greek island.

It is yet to be confirmed whether these are the same migrants who had earlier been reported stranded for days on a sinking fishing boat near Malta, after trying to illegally sail from Lebanon to Italy.

The coast guard said the remaining 33 men, 7 women, and 21 children disembarked from the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged ship early Wednesday at the port of Kali Limenes on southern Crete.

The migrants told authorities they were Syrians, Lebanese, and Palestinians.

It is most probable that the migrants are the 60 Lebanese and Syrian migrants that had told their relatives by satellite phone earlier that they have been without food, water, and baby formula for days.

The vessel had left the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli about 10 days ago for Italy.

There has been an increase in migrants seeking to travel on unsafe boats from troubled Lebanon to Italy, and Greek authorities have performed several rescues in recent weeks.

Related: Lebanese And Syrian Migrants Stuck For Days On A Sinking Boat In The Mediterranean Sea

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