Eleven years old girl rescued in Med after three days clinging to tyre tubes
An 11-year-old girl has been rescued after clinging to inner tubes for three days in stormy weather in the Mediterranean.
Rescuers from the non-governmental organisation Compass Collective said they were on their way to another emergency when they heard her calls for help.
The unnamed girl, from Sierra Leone, told them she had set off with another 44 people from Sfax in Tunisia. Their boat had sunk and all the other migrants were presumed dead.
Thousands of migrants trying to reach Europe die during the treacherous journey in the Mediterranean every year.
The girl told them that the metal boat she had been on had sunk within seconds as strong storms with 3.5m-high (11.5ft) waves hit and that she - and two others - were together in the water for a while but then lost contact.
Rescuers handed her over to Italian authorities on the island of Lampedusa, where she was able to walk as well as talk.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) says 30,955 migrants have died - or remain missing - crossing the Mediterranean since it started recording figures 10 years ago.
0 Comment