Published: Less than 20 min ago
Around 60 migrants from Lebanon and Syria have been stuck on a sinking ship in the middle of the Mediterranean for several days. Three children in the group, who had been without food and water for almost four days, have already died, according to relatives.
The boat left Lebanon’s coast near the city of Tripoli ten days ago, but began taking on water en route to Italy.
– They are trying to remove the water that is leaking in with the help of buckets, that is all they have, the brother of one of the migrants told AP.
With the help of a satellite phone, they have been able to keep in touch with relatives and aid organisations. But the connection was broken during the night of Tuesday.
The boat is now near Malta. According to the organization Alarm Phone, which helps connect rescue workers with migrants in distress at sea, Maltese authorities have been informed of the boat, but have not announced a rescue operation. Malta has also not allowed a commercial cargo ship to rescue the migrants, according to the organisation.