Three young sisters drowned when the rubber boat carrying them and dozens of other migrants got into difficulties on the perilous central Mediterranean crossing from Libya to Italy, a German sea rescue charity RESQSHIP said on Sunday.
The Non-Governmental Organisation said the bodies of the sisters, aged 9, 11 and 17, were found inside the boat, which was "dangerously overcrowded" and had been buffeted by waves of up to 1.5 metres (4.9 feet) before a rescue vessel arrived at the scene.
Among the 65 people rescued by the charity's Nadir vessel were three pregnant women, children, and a seven-month-old baby. One person fell overboard earlier in the crossing and remains missing, RESQSHIP added in a statement.
It did not give details about the nationality of the three dead girls.
The Nadir intercepted the rubber boat, which had departed from Zuwara in Libya overnight on Friday, after being alerted by the hotline rescue operator Alarm Phone, the charity said.
Italy's coastguard evacuated 14 people - medical cases and their relatives - on Saturday afternoon and took them to the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, where the Nadir arrived later in the day with the remaining survivors and the bodies of the three girls.
As of January 2025, 126,000 migrants have passed through Lampedusa since 2023 according to the Italian Red Cross who manage the reception centre set up to deal with the huge influx of people arriving on the small island.
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Middle East tensions remain high as the U.S. and Iran exchange strikes while signalling progress towards a possible deal. Clashes around the Strait of Hormuz continue, raising fears of escalation despite ongoing diplomatic efforts.
The United States has carried out a “swift and lethal” military strike that it says killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as Niño Guerrero, the alleged leader of Tren de Aragua, a criminal network Washington has designated as a foreign terrorist organisation.
The United States and Iran have traded fresh strikes, with the U.S. hitting military sites and Iran launching missiles and drones at bases and ships near the Strait of Hormuz. Shipping remains active, but tensions are rising as calls grow for restraint and renewed talks.
A London court has handed down lengthy sentences to activists from campaign group Palestine Action, who raided an Israeli-owned arms company in the UK.
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The United States has carried out a “swift and lethal” military strike that it says killed Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, known as Niño Guerrero, the alleged leader of Tren de Aragua, a criminal network Washington has designated as a foreign terrorist organisation.
A London court has handed down lengthy sentences to activists from campaign group Palestine Action, who raided an Israeli-owned arms company in the UK.
Sierra Leone’s First Lady, Fatima Jabbe-Bio, has lost her London social housing flat after a UK council seized it.
SpaceX made a historic entrance into the Nasdaq on Friday, surging over 20% in its first day of trading and lifting its valuation to more than $2 trillion. Investors flocked to the world’s largest IPO, betting on Elon Musk’s sprawling empire spanning rockets, AI and beyond.
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