Thirty-two migrants, including women and children, faced critical situations during their time stranded at sea, highlighting the ongoing crisis in the region.
Desperate Rescue: 32 Migrants Saved from Stranded Oil Platform
Desperate Rescue: 32 Migrants Saved from Stranded Oil Platform
Migrants have been rescued after spending days in dire conditions on an oil platform in the Mediterranean.
Thirty-two migrants, who had attempted a perilous crossing of the Mediterranean, were rescued on Tuesday from a British Gas-managed oil platform off the coast of Tunisia after enduring several harrowing days without food or water. The charitable organization Mediterranea reported that one individual had tragically lost their life while stranded. The rescue operation was carried out by NGO Sea Watch, which confirmed that all migrants were evacuated to the Aurora ship; however, their fate was uncertain as no nearby country had designated a port of safety for them.
Despite the urgent crisis, Sea Watch noted that no European authorities had intervened, even as the migrants remained trapped in international waters adjacent to the Tunisian and Maltese search and rescue zones. An NGO monitoring aircraft named Seabird initially spotted the empty rubber dinghy the migrants used to cross the sea on March 1. The migrants managed to reach out to Alarm Phone, a distress hotline for those in danger at sea, pleading for help as they expressed their critical condition due to lack of food.
In a distressing video shared by NGOs, a young survivor detailed the dire circumstances they faced, speaking in Tigrinya—a language common in Ethiopia and Eritrea. He described their journey from Libya five days ago, emphasizing the cold and hunger that tormented them. He warned, “We have only little chance [to survive],” as he stood among fellow migrants visibly suffering from hypothermia and exhaustion on the oil platform, surrounded by relentless waves.
The ongoing crisis in the Mediterranean remains severe, with the UN recording over 210,000 attempts to cross through Central Mediterranean routes in 2023. Of these, more than 60,000 were intercepted and sent back to Africa, while nearly 2,000 lost their lives attempting the journey.
