MOAS rescues 117 people, many more missing from shipwrecked boat

While Malta-based search-and-rescue foundation MOAS have managed to rescue 117 people from a sinking rubber boat this morning, the private mission also recovered a man's corpse, with survivors claiming many are still missing

Many of the survivors are suffering from hypothermia and various other minor injuries
Many of the survivors are suffering from hypothermia and various other minor injuries

Malta-based search-and-rescue foundation Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) rescued 117 people from a sinking rubber boat this morning, with survivors claiming many are still missing. 

According to MOAS, the survivors are being treated by the Red Cross team on board the Responder, but many of them are reportedly suffering from hypothermia and various other minor injuries. It added that arrangements are being made for two of the rescued to be medically evacuated, due to their critical conditions.

“About 600 people have been brought to safety between Monday night and Tuesday morning, among them many Syrian families,” MOAS said. “Survivors recount that several people drowned before the MOAS-CRI crew aboard the Responder made it onto the scene to assist them, including the mother of two surviving children.”

several people drowned before the MOAS-CRI crew aboard the Responder made it onto the scene to assist them, including the mother of two surviving children
several people drowned before the MOAS-CRI crew aboard the Responder made it onto the scene to assist them, including the mother of two surviving children

Besides the survivors, the body of a man who perished at sea en route Europe was also recovered, and is being held in the ship’s morgue, beside the corpse of another man recovered from the sea last Sunday, MOAS added. 


At the moment, a total of 241 people are currently aboard the MOAS Responder, while the rest of the people have reportedly been transferred onto other vessels.

Last week, MOAS said that smuggling networks had been “industrialised”, due to the fact that “in past years, crossings were organised in more manageable trickles, perhaps a few a day, whereas this year our crews have seen departures organised in large waves.” According to MOAS, this change resulted in increased competition, representing a new challenge for the smugglers in procuring enough rubber boats, engines, and fuel containers to meet the demand. This, in turn, led to unprecedented numbers of migrants and asylum seekers being placed on unseaworthy rubber boats.