Some collapsed to the ground in exhaustion, one raised his arms to the sky in relief, while others burst into tears as a group of migrants were rescued off the Libyan coast yesterday.
The rescue of the 118 migrants of 14 nationalities was carried out by private organisation the Migrant Offshore Aid Station 32 kilometres from Libya.
The migrants were on a rubber dinghy and were taken aboard MOAS’s ship, the Phoenix. A mix of strong emotions hit as they boarded and realised they had been saved from a journey with an unknown ending.
The dinghy was taken by Tunisian fishermen.
The Phoenix, manned by MOAS personnel with medical assistance provided by Médecins sans Frontières and MOAS, is the first privately funded rescue vessel to operate in the Mediterranean. Its aim is to provide assistance at sea in co-ordination with the rescue coordination centres in the region.
MOAS has saved about 7,000 migrants so far this year.