International

Mediterranean Sea: 22 people found dead on migrant boat

Published

8 years ago

July 21, 2016

Mediterranean Sea: 22 people found dead on migrant boat

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)- a humanitarian group has informed that rescue operators found the dead bodies of 21 women and one man on a rickety rubber boat near the Libyan coast which was heading for Italy.

Reports say there were actually two boats sailing close together as rescue operators were able to pull out 209 people, including 50 children, to safety.

However, 22 other migrants were not so lucky as they were found dead at the bottom of the first dinghy boat, lying in a pool of fuel.

“It is still not entirely clear what happened, but they died a horrible death. It is tragic,” said Jens Pagotto, MSF Head of Mission for Search and Rescue Operations.

“It seems that water and fuel mixed together and the fumes from this might have been enough for them to lose consciousness,” he told Reuters by telephone.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now