ROME – At least 60 migrants have died after their dinghy broke off the coast of Libya, leaving them at sea for a week without food or water, rescue services said.

 The 25 survivors were rescued by Ocean Viking, a ship belonging to the NGO SOS Mediterranee, however one boy rescued has since died.

 The migrants had left from Zawia, a coastal city in Libya, about 30 miles west of Tripoli. Three days into the crossing, the motor on the dinghy broke, and the migrants were left in the middle of the Mediterranean with no food or potable water.

 According to testimonies from the survivors, they had tried everything they could to attract the attention of planes and helicopters that flew overhead; however, they were not rescued. Survivors claimed that the Libyan coastguards deliberately ignored their cry for help.

 Doctors aboard the Ocean Viking described those rescued as being “at the end of their physical endurance,” with many being “hypothermic and almost all of them extremely dehydrated.” Two survivors collapsed aboard the Ocean Viking and did not regain consciousness. The crew called the Italian Coastguards to help, and the two migrants were taken by helicopter to Lampedusa, before being transferred to hospitals in Palermo and Agrigento, Sicily. One of the two died in hospital. 

 The doctors also mentioned the “inevitable” psychological effects of the shipwreck, as those saved witnessed family, friends and strangers die in front of their eyes.

 A spokesperson for the NGO, Lucille Guenier spoke of the horrors the migrants suffered for four days at the mercy of the sea.  “I met a man who lost his wife and his son, who was one and a half” she said. “The baby died within the first few days at sea, the mother the fourth.” The husband and wife were from Senegal and had been living in Libya for the last two years.

 As well as rescuing 25 survivors from this shipwreck, Ocean Viking rescued over 200 more migrants within 24 hours, including at least 35 unaccompanied minors. The ship is making a journey back to its government assigned safe port of Ancona, in the Marche region, which is 1450 kilometres from where the rescues took place. The NGO criticised the length of this journey, as it “risks worsening the shipwrecked people’s condition”, adding that “some are still on oxygen to recover.” On X, the NGO said they “had requested a closer place to disembark the 224 survivors” however, their request had not been granted by the Italian maritime authorities.

 As the news of the rescue broke, criticism and controversy followed. Flavio Di Giacomo, spokesperson for the International Organisation for Migration, wrote that “the rescue system at sea is still largely insufficient” and added that safe harbours “must also be nearby” in reference to the long journey to Ancona.

 The UNHCR expressed “deep sadness at yet another tragic accident in the central Mediterranean,” and appealed for “safe and legal routes” to be strengthened so people are “not put in a position to risk their lives in search of safety.”

 Italian politicians also addressed the tragedy. Peppe Di Cristofaro, leader of the Green and Left Alliance group in the Senate, described the shipwreck as “yet another massacre of innocents” and Pierfrancesco Majorino, the Democratic Party’s head of migration policy, accused the Italian government of “another shameful massacre.” Riccardo Magi, secretary of +Europa, hit out at Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on X, criticising her “rhetoric of naval blockades and the hunt for smugglers across the globe” and said Meloni should instead “admit [her] failure in managing migratory flows.” He ended his statement by calling for “a European monitoring and rescue mission in the Mediterranean.”

 Over 300 other migrants arrived on Lampedusa’s shores in 24 hours. Most were Tunisian, Eritrean, Syrian and Pakistani. Some said they paid around 2500 Tunisian dinar, roughly 740 euros, to be brought to Italy. Others used an 8-metre wooden boat to sail for Libya.

 It was revealed at least three other rescue ships had been impounded for alleged irregularities by the Italian maritime authorities, meaning there were fewer rescue ships at sea than there could have been, which has drawn more criticism for the Italian government.

 The Ocean Viking is currently travelling to Ancona.