119 immigrants, 34 children included, who have been sailing adrift in a small inflatable boat on the Mediterranean, have been saved by a ship of the Romanian Coast Guard this week. They have been taken over to the Italian authorities in Lampedusa port.
“Stefan cel Mare/Stephan the Great”, Romanian Coast Guard’s flagship was on a patrolling mission within Operation Triton, a border security operation conducted by Frontex, the European Union’s border security agency. On Tuesday around 6 p.m., the Romanian ship received a request from the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre Rome to save over 100 people aboard an inflatable boat, which was on the verge of sinking.
The immigrants, all males, 34 children included, were dehydrated and showed signs of hypothermia. They said they were coming from Gambia, Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Cameroon, Sierra Leone and Mali and were heading to the Schengen area countries.
The ship of the Romanian Border Police took over the immigrants on Wednesday around 7 p.m. and handed them over to the Italian authorities.