🆘URGENT!!! ~95 people are at risk of drowning in Maltese SAR zone! The people reached out to #AlarmPhone as their engine is not working and water is entering the boat. The situation on board is critical. Maltese & Italian authorities are informed but not responding. Rescue now!
02:45 The people in distress say they cannot get water out of the boat because it is too overcrowded: "we are really dying!” they scream. The Merchant vessel #Maridive230 is ~20 nm away from the boat & should be ordered to rescue, but @Armed_Forces_MT is not responding our calls.
03.45: More and more water was entering the boat. We said that we called Malta but no answer. "But we are drowning. What are they waiting for? That we die?" said the people. Later, they received a call from a Maltese number saying "we are coming, we are coming". #BlackLivesMatter
08.36: We are still in contact with the people in distress. They keep sending their GPS position and we keep forwarding it to authorities, in vain. We couldn’t reach #Maridive203 to ask for rescue. The ~95 people have been drifting for hours and need immediate rescue to #Europe!
The situation is critical! People onboard report to us that the boat is full of water and that some have started jumping in the water! Do these lives not matter? Europe don’t watch them drown!
The people in distress report that a vessel is in sight but still too far away from them. They say that two people went overboard and one of them appears missing. Once more, we call on authorities to coordinate a rescue operation immediately.
15:56 The people on board see merchant vessels but are afraid that the ships are not seeing them. They want to light fire but this will endanger them. They are now waving T-Shirts. They say they have already lost 1 person and if they will have to wait longer more people might die
18.15 The people in distress said that a white cargo vessel was nearby them but left without providing assistance. A fishing vessel is in vicinity but not assisting. They continue to desperately call out for help! Several relatives are also calling us worried for their loved ones
19:15 The ~95 people in distress said the big ship is still near them but does not help. "We are so thirsty. We had no water since yesterday. They have to give us water for the baby. The baby is near to die."
We can see that Cargo vessel Heydar Aliyev circled around the boat.
20:50 the people are in panic: “our boat might only be stable for another 1-2 hours" they say. They can see the Heydar Aliyev vessel, but it does not assist: "will they just watch us drown?" they ask.
We fear the Heydar Aliyev is waiting for the Libyan coast guard to intervene.
05.05 We alerted authorities about ~95 people in distress ~33 hours ago & there has been no rescue in sight. A merchant vessel is monitoring the situation but not providing assistance.
How long will the people be left suffering & at risk of drowning? How long can they survive?
According to several sources, the Armed Forces of Malta eventually rescued this group in distress. We don't know if there are any deaths as feared. The 30+ hours of non-assistance by Malta are once more shocking and we condemn these systematic delays in the strongest terms.
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