A pregnant woman on board the German migrant rescue ship Sea-Eye 4 was left fighting for her life on Friday evening (October 27) after Italian and Libyan authorities failed to respond to a medical emergency in a timely manner, the NGO Sea-Eye announced.

Sea-Eye rescuers said they had repeatedly requested the Italian Maritime Rescue Center for an urgent medical evacuation. Each time, however, Italy referred Sea-Eye to Libya's Maritime Distress Control Center and Italy's telemedicine service for assistance.

The pregnant woman was among a group of migrants rescued by Sea-Eye on Friday morning. The doctor on board could not detect the heartbeat of the woman's unborn child, which created a life-threatening situation for both the mother and baby, Sea-Eye said in a press release. In addition, two other people had fallen into the water during the rescue operation.

"The persons had almost drowned, which means that there was already a lot of water in their lungs," Sea Eye crew said, adding that the two people were immediately treated on board their ship.

The Italian emergency control center in Rome "continued to deny any responsibility and again referred to Libya," Sea-Eye said.

Libya fails to respond to rescue pleas

After Italy failed to respond to their desperate calls for help, Sea-Eye reached out to Libyan authorities.

"However, there no one answered the phone, nor was there any response to e-mails," Sea-Eye Chairman Gordon Isler told the German news agency epd on Sunday. "We demand that Italy immediately take all measures to protect the life of the pregnant woman on board the SEA-EYE 4," he added.

After Libya's sea rescue coordination center failed to respond after several hours, the Italian telemedical services concluded that a medical evacuation was necessary.

Jan Ribbeck, director of mission at Sea-Eye was appalled that Italy forced the humanitarian aid group to deal with "failed state" Libya – instead of sending help.

"A helicopter could reach the pregnant woman in acute danger of her life in less than an hour. Instead, Italy presents itself as a state that respects neither the life of a pregnant woman nor that of an unborn child," he said, adding: "This is a medical, ethical and humanitarian scandal that should be brought before every court in the world."

Around 8 p.m. on Friday, Italy finally instructed the Sea-Eye 4 to sail to the southern island of Lampedusa to carry out medical evacuations on its own.

"The crew organized a dignified escort during disembarkation of the four deceased," Sea-Eye wrote on the media platform X.

The pregnant woman was taken off the ship on Saturday morning and given medical treatment. According to Italian media reports, she was then taken to the Sicilian city of Palermo to have an induced delivery of her stillborn child, epd reported.

Italian authorities later directed the migrant ship to proceed to Calabria's Vibo Valentia on Sunday following the medical evacuation in Lampedusa, to disembark the 48 survivors.