Tragic Loss of Three Sisters in Mediterranean Migration Attempt
Barcelona, Spain – Three young sisters tragically lost their lives after their overcrowded rubber dinghy capsized while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Italy amid poor weather conditions.
The sisters, aged 9, 11, and 17, were from war-torn Sudan and are among over 30,000 individuals who have died on this perilous migration route since the International Migration Agency began tracking the numbers in 2014.
Volunteers from the German organization Resqship found their bodies after rescuing approximately 65 others from the distressed vessel in international waters off the northern coast of Libya late Friday into Saturday. One additional person remains unaccounted for.
Among the survivors were their mother and siblings, who were later taken to Lampedusa, Italy, according to the group.
The rubber dinghy had set off from Zwara in western Libya on Friday.
One rescuer, Barbara Satore, described the situation, stating, “The boat was extremely overcrowded and partly deflated. It was a dark night with waves of around 1.5 meters, and the dinghy struggled with water for several hours.”
Satore reported receiving an alert from a network that monitors calls from distressed ships, prompting the rescue operation.
Once aboard, rescuers discovered the bodies floating in a pool of water mixed with fuel at the bottom of the boat after evacuating nearly two-thirds of the passengers.
“I heard a woman scream as a man pointed to the water,” said Satore. The darkness and adverse weather made the rescues particularly treacherous. “The medical team tried to revive them, but they had been in the water for a long time,” she added.
The mother was visibly devastated, sitting beside her daughter’s body on the rescue vessel, as she asked the crew for a white sheet to cover her child.
The rescued group included pregnant women and many children, with four individuals requiring urgent medical evacuation alongside their families to an Italian Coast Guard ship. Survivors hailed from various countries, including Sudan, Mali, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, and Eritrea.
In a separate incident, another rescue organization reported saving more than 50 people from one boat but could not assist a second boat in distress after being intercepted by the Libyan coast guard.
SOS Humanity criticized the actions of the so-called Libyan Coast Guard, stating they are linked to severe human rights violations in Libya and condemned by a UN Fact-Finding Mission for crimes against humanity. “Forcing individuals seeking refuge into situations of torture and abuse is a breach of international law,” the organization declared.
