By : Lloyd Mahachi
In a miraculous turn of events, an 11-year-old girl from Sierra Leone was rescued after surviving three harrowing days at sea, clinging to tire inner tubes. The girl, whose name has not been disclosed, was saved by a team from the non-governmental organization Compass Collective, who heard her cries for help while en route to another emergency in the Mediterranean.
The girl recounted her journey, which began with 44 others departing from Sfax, Tunisia. Their boat sank in stormy weather, and she is believed to be the sole survivor. Wearing a basic life jacket and two tire inner tubes for flotation, she managed to stay afloat despite 3.5-meter-high waves. According to her account, the metal boat sank almost instantly during the storm, and although she initially stayed close to two other passengers, they eventually lost contact.
The Compass Collective team, aboard the vessel Trotamar III, spotted the girl in the water around 03:20 on Wednesday. After rescuing her, they transferred her to Italian authorities on the island of Lampedusa. Remarkably, despite the ordeal, the girl was able to walk and communicate with her rescuers. Her survival is being hailed as nothing short of a miracle, given the perilous conditions that have claimed thousands of lives in the Mediterranean.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) reports over 30,000 deaths or disappearances in the Mediterranean over the past decade, with Italy at the forefront of the crisis. This year alone, Italy has received more than 63,000 migrants, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR. However, recent months have seen a decline in arrivals, attributed partly to the hard-line migration policies of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government.
The young girl’s rescue underscores the extreme risks migrants face while crossing the Mediterranean, often driven by conflict, poverty, and persecution. Her story serves as a powerful testament to the resilience and determination of those embarking on such perilous journeys in search of a better life.
Katja Tempel, a spokeswoman for Compass Collective, commended the rescue team for their courage and quick action, crediting them with saving the girl’s life. The organization has called for stronger efforts to prevent migrant deaths in the Mediterranean and to address the root causes of migration.
This extraordinary story is a poignant reminder of the human cost of the migration crisis and the importance of compassion and solidarity in addressing it.
Editor : Josephine Mahachi
