MILAN (AP) — Survivors rescued from a deflating rubber dinghy in the central Mediterranean Sea have reported that some 60 people who departed Libya with them more than a week ago perished during the journey, the humanitarian rescue group SOS Mediterranee said Thursday. The European charity’s ship Ocean Viking spotted the dinghy with 25 people on board Wednesday. Humanitarian organizations often rely on accounts of survivors when pulling together the numbers of dead and missing at sea, presumed to have died. The survivors said the boat departed Zawiya, Libya with about 85 people on board, including some women and at least one small child. Ocean Viking has been directed by Italian authorities to the port of Ancona, in the central Marche region, Creazzo said.

Source: Libya Today March 14, 2024 15:48 UTC