Rescue of 450 migrants in the Mediterranean

(B2) The Spanish VIGMA D-4 plane spotted this Sunday (morning) two rubber ships, loaded with migrants, in distress in the Mediterranean, indicates the HQ of the EUNAVFOR Med operation on its Twitter feed.

#OpSophia this morning the Spanish aircraft VIGMA D-4 has spotted two rubber boats in distress. Watch the video.. pic.twitter.com/TNPvJUCSsS

—EUNAVFOR MED OHQ (@EUNAVFORMED_OHQ) February 21 2016

The Slovenian deep-sea patrol vessel SNS Triglav (11), as well as the German corvette Ludwigshafen (F-264) and support ship Frankfurt (A-1412) headed to the scene. At the end of the afternoon, 357 people had been picked up and sheltered on the German ship Frankfurt, from three boats in total. A third boat having been located nearby.

Already on Saturday (February 20), an Italian EH101 helicopter had located a rubber boat in distress “ in international waters north of Libya ". 122 migrants were eventually rescued by the Triglav and Frankfurt, who welcomed them aboard.

These two rescue series lead to 9600 the number of people saved by the European maritime operation Sophia (EUNAVFOR Med). The migrants were disembarked at the port of Augusta in Sicily.

(NGV)

(Updated) Sun 21.2 – 18 p.m. and 21 p.m.