A wooden boat with 45 migrants, including women and children, onboard has been reported to be in distress off the coast of Malta, and is being monitored by the Armed Forces of Malta.
The NGO Alarm Phone tweeted on Wednesday morning that it had alerted the Maltese armed forces of the boat’s call for help, and an AFM spokesperson told this newsroom that the situation is being monitored and that the migrants are under surveillance.
The NGO tweeted: “One pregnant woman is bleeding and needs rapid medical attention. They all lack drinking water. A rescue operation must be launched immediately!”, whilst also noting that the boat had been at sea for two days.
Alarm Phone tweeted on Wednesday afternoon questioning why the migrants had not been rescued, noting that the AFM had been informed for three whole hours at that time.
Breaking: Wooden boat with 45 people, including several women and children, near #Malta in distress! At 8.59am CEST we were alerted by a group of #migrants who had left from Tripoli in #Libya. At 9.10am we informed the Maltese authorities. #safepassage pic.twitter.com/fQfkm6HaYT
— Alarm Phone (@alarm_phone) 18 September 2019
The NGO indicated that the army had deployed a helicopter to the location of the migrants. If these migrants are rescued by the AFM, they will be the second group of migrants rescued in as many days, with 90 migrants being rescued by Italian patrol boats and transferred onto a Maltese vessel on Tuesday.
In a later tweet, Alarm Phone said that they were told that the migrants on board have been at sea for two days and need water, adding that a pregnant woman might have lost her child.
“We are at sea for 2 days now. We need water. One pregnant woman is bleeding & maybe lost her child.” This is what the people told us. They are so close to #Malta – why are they not rescued yet? Malta was informed over 3 hours ago and has verified the distress with a helicopter.
— Alarm Phone (@alarm_phone) 18 September 2019
