Screenshot from footage released by humanitarian group Compass Collective, who led the rescue.
Credit: Compass Collective
An 11-year-old girl from Sierra Leone has defied the odds in a harrowing tale after spending three days clinging to inner tubes in the storm-ravaged Mediterranean. The forty migrants who were with her when her vessel capsised are missing and feared dead. The shipwreck was found off the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Clinging to life on a thread
The young survivor was plucked from the sea by rescuers aboard the Trotamar III, a vessel operated by the humanitarian group Compass Collective. The team was en route to another emergency when they heard the girl’s desperate cries for help cutting through the howling wind and crashing waves.
Katja Tempel, a spokesperson for Compass Collective, described the dramatic rescue: “She was found wearing a basic life jacket and two tyre inner tubes tied around her waist. The waves were over 11 feet high, and she was exhausted but still able to speak and walk when we brought her aboard.”
A journey doomed from the start
The girl revealed she had set off with 44 others from the Tunisian port of Sfax, crammed into a small metal boat. Tragedy struck when the vessel sank in seconds during the violent storm. While she initially clung to two others, they were separated in the chaos.
Rescuers fear the worst for the other migrants, with all presumed dead. Her survival in such grim circumstances is nothing short of miraculous.
Mediterranean’s grim death toll
The Mediterranean remains one of the deadliest migration routes in the world. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reports that over 30,000 people have died or gone missing in the last decade attempting the perilous crossing.
Italy, the primary landing point for many migrants, has faced an influx of over 63,000 arrivals this year. However, these figures are falling due to the tough measures imposed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government.
The girl has been handed over to Italian authorities on the island of Lampedusa, where she is receiving care.
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