- The rescue ship “Ocean Viking” rescued more than 120 migrants from an overcrowded inflatable boat in the Mediterranean on Friday.
- Two people were found dead. Only one of the bodies could be recovered because of the weather conditions.
“In a five-hour mission in increasingly dangerous weather conditions, the Ocean Viking rescued 128 men, women and children today,” said the aid organization SOS Méditerranée on Twitter.
Since it was founded in 2015, the organization SOS Méditerranée has rescued more than 34,800 people from distress at sea.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Mediterranean Sea is the most dangerous refugee route in the world. The UN organization estimates that more than 23,500 people have died or are missing there since 2014. In the past year alone, around 2,000 migrants disappeared on the Mediterranean route.