An ambulance ship chartered by SOS Méditerranée, Ocean Viking has rescued 85 people, including three babies
and three pregnant women, during the night from Monday to Tuesday.
The migrants were on an overloaded inflatable boat off the Libyan coast, the Marseille-based relief agency disclosed.
According to a press release from the organisation relayed by international media, a third of the people rescued were minors, under the age of 18.
The boat, in critical condition, was taking in water and looked like giving way under the weight of its occupants.
According to data from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), 45 people have already lost their lives or disappeared in the Mediterranean Sea in 2025.
In 2024, this figure rose to 2,333, mainly in the central Mediterranean, considered one of the most treacherous migratory routes in the world.
SL/te/fss/as/APA