Mediterranean, 55 people saved by Emergency ship: “It’s like being at war, they told us to leave with Kalashnikovs”

MILAN – At 2.30 pm on Saturday 15 April, the ship Life support of EMERGENCY concluded the rescue of a boat of about ten meters on which 55 people were sailing. The vessel was in international waters and was completely adrift. “We left Zwara, Libya, at midnight – says one of the survivors from Eritrea – we had been at sea for over 12 hours. After a few hours of navigation the engine stopped working and we started taking on water after a while. We were terrified. Many of us burst into tears when we saw your ship coming to the rescue. We were exhausted.” Among the people rescued, three women, three accompanied children aged 2 to 7 years, 3 unaccompanied minors. The people rescued come from countries marked by serious humanitarian emergencies including the Ivory Coast, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Palestine, Sudan, Somalia. At the Life support the port of Marina di Carrara was assigned, which is about three days away from the place where the rescue took place.

Overloaded boat, many astride the edge. “When we approached, we found a boat in conditions of serious danger – reports Albert Mayordomo, rescuer of the Life support – was so overloaded with humans that many rode astride tubulars. The smell of petrol was very strong, even though we were in the open air. Their bodies were soaked in petrol, many had burns on their legs and bruises due to the conditions of the journey”. “Here in the Mediterranean, we are witnessing the real migrant emergency: not the arrivals in Italy, but the people who die at sea, on average one every 4 hours. It is as if the Mediterranean were a war zone – says Emanuele Nannini, head of mission of the Life support – we have just rescued 55 people, but we will never know how many other people, in these hours, have been brought back to Libya or have been shipwrecked and drowned in silence. Only yesterday we learned of four intercepted boats: hundreds of people forcibly returned to Libya or Tunisia. At the end of the rescue operations today, an unidentified boat approached, perhaps belonging to Libyan militias, and signaled us to move away with intimidating maneuvers towards our ship, showing us the Kalashnikovs and pistols they had on board”.