Three sisters aged nine, 11 and 17 have drowned in a rubber boat carrying migrants across the central Mediterranean. The boat departed from Libya's Zuwara city but started taking on increasing amounts of water after being hit by waves up to 1.5 metres high.
About 65 people were rescued from the "dangerously overcrowded" vessel by German rescue charity RESQSHIP. The survivors included the sisters' mother and brother, as well as three pregnant women and a seven-month-old baby.
Tragic discovery during rescue
The bodies were discovered early on Saturday as survivors were being evacuated from the flooded boat. Barbara Sartore, RESQSHIP's communications coordinator aboard the rescue ship Nadir, heard "screams and someone pointed to the water inside the boat".
"It became clear that there were bodies underneath the surface," Sartore said. "The boat was dangerously overcrowded, it was pitch-dark, water was flooding in, people were panicking. In that chaos, it was impossible to see that the three sisters, sitting deep inside the boat, had already drowned."
Many survivors suffered severe chemical burns from the mixture of seawater and petrol inside the boat and required medical treatment. The charity did not give the nationalities of the girls or the survivors.
Broader migration crisis
Italy's coastguard evacuated 14 people on Saturday afternoon to Lampedusa, while the rescue ship arrived later with remaining survivors and the three girls' bodies. One person who had fallen overboard earlier remains missing.
Libya serves as a major launching point for migrants making the treacherous journey to reach the Italian island of Lampedusa. UN agencies report that more than 700 people have died attempting to cross the central Mediterranean from North Africa this year.
"What happened to the three sisters is unimaginable, as is the danger that people on the move face in search of safety," said Katja Schnitzer, a RESQSHIP crewmember. UN agencies continue calling for increased search and rescue operations and guaranteed safety for survivors when they disembark.
Sources used: "PA Media", "RESQSHIP", "BBC", "Independent", "Express" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
