On Wednesday morning, rescuers from Compass Collective found the girl wearing only a life jacket and two tyre tubes, having spent days in the sea after her boat sank during a storm, which has claimed thousands of lives in the region.
**Miraculous Rescue of 11-Year-Old Migrant Clinging to Tyres in Mediterranean**
**Miraculous Rescue of 11-Year-Old Migrant Clinging to Tyres in Mediterranean**
An 11-year-old girl survived three harrowing days adrift in the Mediterranean, clinging to inner tubes amidst treacherous weather.
In a remarkable story of survival, an 11-year-old girl from Sierra Leone was rescued in the Mediterranean Sea after enduring three full days clinging to inner tubes during a storm. The girl was part of a group of 45 migrants who set sail from Sfax, Tunisia, only to face a devastating shipwreck.
Rescue teams from the non-governmental organization Compass Collective were responding to another emergency when they heard her desperate cries for help. They arrived at the scene around 03:20 local time and found the girl wearing a simple life jacket, with two tyre inner tubes secured around her waist. She recounted to the rescuers how the metal boat had sunk rapidly in the face of brutal storms and towering waves that reached heights of 3.5 meters (approximately 11.5 feet). While she initially was adrift with two others, they soon lost contact in the turbulent waters.
After pulling her aboard the rescue vessel Trotamar III, the rescuers provided her with blankets and water to help warm her up. Subsequently, she was handed over to Italian authorities on the island of Lampedusa, where reports state she was coherent and able to walk and speak.
The harrowing incident highlights the dangers faced by migrants seeking a better life in Europe. According to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 30,955 migrants have either died or remain missing during attempts to cross the Mediterranean in the past decade. Italy has borne the brunt of these tragedies, receiving over 63,000 migrants this year alone.
While the numbers have decreased in recent months, this decline is attributed to stringent migration policies enacted by Italy's right-wing government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The ongoing migrant crisis remains a complex issue, as many continue to risk their lives undertaking perilous journeys across the Mediterranean.
Rescue teams from the non-governmental organization Compass Collective were responding to another emergency when they heard her desperate cries for help. They arrived at the scene around 03:20 local time and found the girl wearing a simple life jacket, with two tyre inner tubes secured around her waist. She recounted to the rescuers how the metal boat had sunk rapidly in the face of brutal storms and towering waves that reached heights of 3.5 meters (approximately 11.5 feet). While she initially was adrift with two others, they soon lost contact in the turbulent waters.
After pulling her aboard the rescue vessel Trotamar III, the rescuers provided her with blankets and water to help warm her up. Subsequently, she was handed over to Italian authorities on the island of Lampedusa, where reports state she was coherent and able to walk and speak.
The harrowing incident highlights the dangers faced by migrants seeking a better life in Europe. According to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 30,955 migrants have either died or remain missing during attempts to cross the Mediterranean in the past decade. Italy has borne the brunt of these tragedies, receiving over 63,000 migrants this year alone.
While the numbers have decreased in recent months, this decline is attributed to stringent migration policies enacted by Italy's right-wing government led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The ongoing migrant crisis remains a complex issue, as many continue to risk their lives undertaking perilous journeys across the Mediterranean.
