An 11-year-old girl has been rescued after spending three days clinging to inner tubes in the stormy Mediterranean waters. Rescuers from the non-governmental organization Compass Collective were responding to an emergency call when they heard her desperate cries for help. The girl, who is from Sierra Leone, revealed that she had embarked on the perilous journey with 44 others from Sfax, Tunisia, but their boat sank, leaving her as the sole survivor.
According to Compass Collective, the girl was discovered wearing a simple life jacket and two tire inner tubes at approximately 03:20 local time on Wednesday. She described how the metal boat capsized within seconds as severe storms with waves reaching 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) struck, causing chaos and separation from her companions in the water.
After being rescued, she was transported to the Italian island of Lampedusa, where she was examined by medical personnel and found to be coherent and able to walk. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports that over 30,955 migrants have lost their lives or remain unaccounted for while attempting to cross the Mediterranean since tracking began a decade ago. This year, Italy alone has received more than 63,000 migrants amid ongoing pressure to manage the influx.
In light of this tragedy, Italy is grappling with a significant migrant crisis, compounded by restrictive policies enacted by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, which have reportedly contributed to a decline in migrant numbers making the crossing.
