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full screen A port on the Italian island of Lampedusa. Archive image. Photo: Cecilia Fabiano/Lapresse Via AP/TT
An 11-year-old girl has been found floating in the Mediterranean off the Italian island of Lampedusa, and is believed to be the only survivor after a boat carrying migrants capsized.
The girl, who is from Sierra Leone, was rescued by a German-flagged sailboat that brought her to Lampedusa on Wednesday morning, the charity Compass Collective said.
She had neither food nor water with her and was chilled.
According to the girl, around 45 people were on the boat when it left the port of Sfax in Tunisia. After the sinking, she had been floating around in the sea for three days.
More than 1,500 people have died or are feared dead in the central Mediterranean so far this year, according to UN figures, which are largely based on the testimonies of survivors.