An 11-year-old girl from Sierra Leone was rescued early Wednesday after spending three harrowing days at sea as the only survivor of a shipwreck near Italy’s Lampedusa island.
The rescue was confirmed by the German humanitarian organization Compass Collective.
The girl was found around 3 a.m. by the crew of Compass Collective’s vessel, which was responding to another distress call. They heard her cries for help and discovered her clinging to a pair of tire tubes, kept afloat by a life jacket.
According to the girl, she had embarked from the Tunisian port city of Sfax on a metal boat with 45 other passengers. The vessel sank during a storm, leaving her as the lone survivor.
The crew brought the girl to Lampedusa, a frequent landing point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa. After receiving medical attention, she was transferred to a migrant holding center, where the Italian Red Cross has been providing care.
“In this festive period, when most of us are fortunate to be with our loved ones, my thoughts are with this young girl from Sierra Leone,” said Nicola Dell’Arciprete, head of UNICEF in Italy. “This tragedy underscores the increasing number of deaths and disappearances in the Central Mediterranean.”
The Central Mediterranean migration route—spanning Tunisia, Libya, Italy, and Malta—is one of the most perilous in the world. Since 2014, over 24,300 people have died or gone missing while attempting the journey, according to the International Organization for Migration.
Humanitarian organizations have raised alarm about the growing number of shipwrecks. NGO Mediterranea reported fears that three more migrant boats may have disappeared along the Tunisia-Italy route in recent weeks.
“Lives in danger at sea cannot be abandoned,” said Mediterranea spokesperson Luca Casarini, urging authorities to initiate search operations for possible survivors.
The tragedy highlights ongoing debates about immigration in Italy. While the government claims its hardline stance is reducing sea arrivals, the figures tell a complex story. This year, approximately 64,000 migrant landings have been recorded in Italy—significantly fewer than the more than 153,000 landings during the same period in 2023.
As the girl recovers under the care of aid workers, her rescue serves as a stark reminder of the human cost of migration across the Mediterranean. For many, her survival is a rare glimmer of hope in a sea of devastating losses.
(With inputs from Reuters)
