At least five migrants, including one child, have died in a shipwreck in the central Mediterranean in yet another deadly incident. German NGO Sea Watch has accused Libyan coast guards of "reckless and violent" behavior that contributed to the deaths.
At least five migrants - including a child - died and one child went missing in a Mediterranean shipwreck on Monday. The German NGO Sea Watch, which took part in the operation to rescue the migrants with its Sea Watch 3 vessel, accused the Libyan coast guard of "reckless and violent" behavior that contributed to the migrants' death.
The NGO said that its vessel reached the migrants, who were on board a very old boat, at the request of the Italian coast guards' central command in Rome.
Sea Watch said that while its crew was transferring the migrants aboard its boat, a Libyan coast guard cutter intervened. The cutter maneuvered in a way that damaged the rubber dinghy, causing some migrants to fall in the water. Some reportedly dived into the water to reach the German vessel, in a bid to escape the Libyan coast guard. This caused the death of five people.
The Libyan officials also forced some of the migrants to come onboard where they were "threatened and hit," Sea Watch said.
Libyan Navy rejects allegations
Meanwhile, the Libyan Navy gave a completely different account of the incident, claiming that Sea Watch's vessel appeared after rescue operations had already started, causing "chaos and confusion among immigrants."
Some of them, including migrants who were already on the Libyan cutter, jumped into the sea to reach the ship of the German NGO. Sea Watch refused to listen when coast guards told them to leave the scene - claimed Libyan officials - causing the death of a number of illegal migrants.
The Libyan Navy also said the organization used two rubber dinghies during the rescue operation - "as if we were competing" - causing confusion among migrants. NGO officials also "hampered the crew's efforts to rescue all migrants and retrieve the bodies," Libyan coast guard said.
Sea Watch said that an Italian Navy helicopter - deployed as part of the Safe Sea operation in the Mediterranean - had to interfere to prevent more deaths, persuading the Libyan cutter to leave the premises with a group of survivors on board. The Libyan Navy said its Ras Jedir cutter succeeded in rescuing 47 migrants, including 30 women and a child.
Italian Navy sources said the helicopter intervened to provide support to rescue operations and search for potential survivors.
The Sea Watch 3 crew said it rescued 50 migrants, including some who had fallen into the sea.