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THE AID GROUP Doctors without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières – MSF) says it has found the bodies of 29 migrants who perished in a pool of fuel and seawater on a crowded dinghy off the coat of Libya.
The find adds to the grim evidence of the hazards of crossing the Mediterranean – a journey that the UN said today has claimed more than 3,800 lives so far this year.
MSF said its chartered rescue ship, the Bourbon Argos, picked up 107 people aboard the inflatable boat 26 nautical miles off Libya yesterday.
Its crew initially counted 11 corpses on the dinghy’s floor, which was flooded with a murky mixture of fuel and seawater.
The Bourbon Argos was then called away to another rescue operation nearby, saving 139 people aboard another vessel.
The crew returned to the dinghy and found on closer examination that 29 people had died, probably from suffocation, skin burns or drowning.
The bodies were retrieved from the toxic mixture over a period of hours, with the help of a team from the German NGO Sea-Watch.
“The mixture of water and fuel was so foul that we could not stay on the boat for long periods. It was horrible,” MSF project leader Michele Telaro said in a statement.
‘Rush to the cemetery’
Twenty-three survivors suffered burns from exposure to fuel, 11 of whom were seriously hurt. Seven survivors were taken to hospital, two of them by helicopter.
The MSF team also provided psychological help to survivors, including a man who was left clutching his eight-month-old baby after his wife died.
“It’s a tragedy, but sadly one cannot say that this was an exceptional day in the Mediterranean,” said Stefano Argenziano, the man in charge of MSF’s migrant assistance activities.
Last week was terrible for our teams. They were engaged around the clock in rescue operations in which too many men, women and children lost their lives.
To venture out to sea in such conditions, said Argenziano bluntly, “is a headlong rush to the cemetery”.
Tripoli
Meanwhile, earlier today, the Irish Defence Forces’ ship LÉ Samuel Beckett itself rescued 122 migrants from a “rubber vessel” 37 miles offshore of Libya’s capital Tripoli.
The rescue operation began at 8am and lasted for four-and-a-half hours.
All of those rescued, who have been receiving food and medical treatment, will now transfer to the Italian ship VOS Hestia, which will transport them to port of safety in Italy.
In Geneva, the UN’s refugee agency said fatalities on the Mediterranean migrant route had set a new, tragic record.
“We can confirm that at least 3,800 people have been reported dead or missing in the Mediterranean Sea so far this year, making the death toll in 2016 the highest ever recorded,” spokesman William Spindler told AFP in an email, as the figures passed last year’s mark of 3,771.
In Rome, Pope Francis pleaded on behalf of migrants and foreigners seeking a better life or safe haven abroad.
“Today, the context of economic crises unfortunately fosters the emergence of attitudes that are closed and unwelcoming,” he said in his Wednesday address in St. Peter’s Square.
In some parts of the world, walls and barricades are being erected. Closure (of borders) is not a solution, it ends up by encouraging trafficking. The only path towards a solution is that of solidarity.
Additional reporting Cianan Brennan
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Water water everywhere but not a drop to drink………
Tá siad ag teacht!
I just got back from the Aran Islands I don’t know how there is a water shortage everyone seems to drink alcohol
It’s just as well they don’t have flushing toilets out there
Why? …. are you full of shit ?
It seems the curse of John Tierney hasn’t left Galway yet ..figuratively speaking !
The lake is 10 – 15% salt water as far as I know.
That was the old lake
And just how do they construe a situation whereby they have “depleted reserves” ……..what with all the rain lately and it also being a time when lots of visitors are expected to the islands you’d think……..awe. ….maybe not!
the rainfall in the islands is much lower than inland because the clouds have to hit the cold air of the mountains first – The water cycle !
Ferry good news.
we were over that way last week staying in Doolin, it rained most of wednesday, hammered it down on thursday and didnt stop at all on friday , in fact the rain was that heavy the river went from being a couple of inches deep to nigh on 3 -4 ft deep by friday night . and it was all coming in from a seaward direction i.e. from over the islands.
Eric, across the bay in Sunny Spiddal, about 28km as the crow flies, Wednesday and Thursday were glorious days, albeit it did piss on Friday.
Dermot Ryan is correct, the Aran Islands and indeed quite a bit of coastal Connemara, experience less rainfall hours than most parts of Ireland. The annual insolation in these areas is on a par with Wexford.
An bfhuil siad arais?
Odd that reserves are low on Inis Oirr. They got a new lake recently that should have catered for demand. Restrictions are 8pm to 8am so its not too bad
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