More than 300 people on four rubber vessels die in the Central Mediterranean Sea
14.02.2015 / 13:07 / Approximately 40 NM off Tripoli and 120 NM off Lampedusa
Four inflatable rubber vessels that together carried over 400 people left a beach close to Tripoli/Libya in order to reach Italy in the night from Saturday 7th to Sunday 8th of February 2015. During their journey the migrants were without food and water and encountered situa-tions of distress due to the very difficult weather conditions. In total, and as far as known, there were merely 86 survivors and more than 324 fatalities.According to first testimonies of survivors, armed smugglers had forced them to embark by threatening to shoot anyone who would refuse to get onto the vessels (source 1). Following the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, survivors reported that water had been leaking into the rubber boats almost immediately after their departure (source 2).