One dead, 186 others rescued by Italian Coast Guard after 5 days on sea

One person has been found dead with 186 others rescued by the Italian Coast Guard.

The rescued people were transferred to Humanity 1, SOS Humanity International said in a series of tweet.

The tweets read: “The #Humanity1 is currently on its way to the port of #Catania, Sicily, assigned by the Italian authorities, with 186 survivors rescued from distress at sea. There is also the body of a person on board, who was recovered dead.

“The people said they had been at sea for 5 days after setting out from #Libya in an unseaworthy, overcrowded fishing trawler without life jackets. In the early hours of this morning, they were rescued by the Italian Coast Guard and transferred to our rescue vessel Humanity 1.

“Yesterday afternoon, the crew of #Humanity1 heard a distress call to the boat in distress and offered to rescue while the boat was still in the Maltese Search and Rescue (SAR) zone. However, the Maltese rescue coordination centre ignored our calls and refused to coordinate.”

The Italian MRCC, the statement said took over coordination. “When Humanity 1 arrived at the distress case – now in the Italian SAR zone – shortly after 23:00, there were already two patrol boats from the Italian Coast Guard & an Italian military vessel. We were instructed to keep our distance.

“The rescue was carried out at sunrise at around 05:30 by the two Italian Coast Guard boats. All 186 survivors were then brought to Humanity 1 by around 06:30. The body of the person who had been recovered dead was also transferred.”

It said the survivors are now being cared for on board Humanity 1. “We are relieved: We will reach the relatively nearby Sicilian port of #Catania today for disembarkation. Usually, we are forced to take survivors to distant ports further away in the north of Italy.”