Two children, aged 3 and 4, and an adult died during a Mediterranean crossing from to on a frail boat whose engine gave way, a German aid organization has said.
The bodies of the deceased migrants have been brought to land on the Italian island of , the German aid organization RESQSHIP said on Sunday.
The German sea rescue charity said it had rescued 59 survivors from the same boat.
What do we know about the incident?
The were intercepted on Saturday on a rubber dinghy floating adrift south of Lampedusa. The boat’s engine had failed shortly after it took off from western Libya on Wednesday, leaving those on board adrift and exposed to the wind and tide elements for an extended period, according to RESQSHIP.
“By the time [we] reached the rubber boat at around 4.30 p.m. (1430 GMT/UTC), it was too late to help some of the people,” RESQSHIP said in a statement.
“Two bodies of infants aged 3 and 4 were handed over to us,” the charity quoted one of its paramedics as saying. “They had died the day before, probably of thirst.”
A man was unconscious when rescuers arrived on the scene. He was later declared dead after attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, RESQSHIP said.
Many of the rescued migrants suffered critical injuries, including chemical burns from salt water and fuel.
Mediterranean crossing becomes more and more deadly
Lampedusa is situated between Tunisia, Malta and the larger Italian island of Sicily and is the first port of call for many migrants seeking to reach Europe.
The route across the Mediterranean has become deadly over the past decade.
Almost 25,000 migrants have died or gone missing trying to cross from North Africa to Europe since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration, including around 1,700 last year and 378 so far this year.
between the EU and Libya in 2017, and the EU and Tunisia in 2023, were brokered to reduce migration — and the many deaths in the Mediterranean.
The deals stipulated that the coastguards of both countries would take over border protection. However, these agreements have been heavily criticized, amid reports of serious human rights violations.
Edited by: Rana Taha
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