The Ocean Viking rescue ship on
Saturday arrived at Bari with 244 migrants aboard.
The boat chartered by Italo-Francio-German-Swiss migrant rescue
charity SOS Medterranée had picked up the migrants, including 18
unaccompanied minors, tow disabled and two pregnant women, in
the Libyan SAR (Search And Rescue) zone in recent days.
Their health condition was said to be good.
Some of the migrants will be distributed among Puglian migrant
centres while others will go to Calabria.
The migrants were said to have come from Eritrea, Sudan,
Bangladesh, Pakistan and Syria.
Writing on X, SOS Mediterranée said:
"#OceanViking performed three rescues today.
"During the night, @SOSMedIntl first rescued 122 people, incl. 8
unaccompanied minors, from an overcrowded wooden boat in the
Libyan SRR, under instructions of a Libyan patrol vessel. "Some
survivors suffer from chronic diseases.
"Around midday, an overcrowded double deck wooden boat was
spotted in the intl. waters off Libya from the bridge lookout.
"Under Italian coordination, the #OceanViking team rescued 106
people, including 8 women, 2 being pregnant & 4 children."
"While @SOSMedIntl fast rescue boats were still on the water,
#Colibri2 spotted an unseaworthy fiberglass boat, 14NM away. "16
survivors were rescued, under Italian coordination.
"There are 244 survivors on #OceanViking. The Italian
authorities assigned Bari as a Place of Safety."
Meanwhile in the northeastern Italian port of Ravenna,
preparations were underway to receive some 336 migrants aboard
the Doctors Without Borders' ship Geo Barents.
They are expected to reach Ravenna at around three in the
afternoon on Tuesday.
They will be moved on Red Cross vans to the local palazzetto
dello sport where six medical check-up workshops have already
been set up.
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