Europe17 August, 20262 min read
Italian Rescue Charity Pulls 50 Migrants From Boat Off Libya, Recovers Seven Bodies
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Italian rescue charity rescued 50 migrants from an overcrowded double-deck wooden boat off Libya. Seven bodies were recovered during the operation.
5 outlets told this the same way.
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Rescues off Libya
An Italian rescue charity said on Monday it pulled 50 people to safety from a double-deck wooden boat in international waters off Libya and recovered seven bodies. Emergency said it spotted the "overcrowded wooden boat" in the early hours and began the rescue operation, and mission leader Jonathan Nani La Terra said in a statement that "Halfway through the rescue, our team noticed nine people lying on the deck". La Terra said the nine had been moved there by other survivors from the hold, and he added, "Nothing could be done for seven of them".
He also said, "Two are in a critical condition due to suffocation," as the migrants—who hail from Somalia and Egypt—said the boat had set off from Zuwara in Libya early on Sunday. The International Organization for Migration said last week that the number of known migrant deaths in the central Mediterranean has increased drastically, even as migrant numbers fall because of harsher European policies.
Mauritania saves 42
The Mauritanian Border Guard rescued 42 irregular migrants on a boat heading toward European shores in an operation off the coast of Nouadhibou in the north of the country. The Mauritanian Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy stated in a release that the rescued migrants belong to several African countries, without specifying their nationalities, and the operation was carried out off the coast of the city of Nouadhibou. A coast guard statement said, "Mauritanian coast guard forces succeeded in rescuing a boat coming from Gambia on Sunday evening, August 16, 2026, carrying 42 people attempting to migrate illegally."
The statement noted the group consisted of "ten people from Senegal and 32 from Gambia, including four women, one of whom is pregnant, and three children." A coast guard official told Agence France-Presse that the boat was rescued off the coast of Nuadhibou after an engine breakdown and the vessel was pulled into the city's port.
Deaths reported in Europe-bound routes
While the Mauritanian coast guard said it "rescued and taken into custody" 42 migrants from Gambia and Senegal, aid organizations reported dozens of deaths in the Mediterranean. DIE WELT reported that the Mauritanian coast guard rescued 42 migrants on a boat bound for Europe and that the occupants were intercepted off Mauritania’s economic center, the city of Nouadhibou, after engine problems occurred. In the central Mediterranean, an operation by the Italian organization Emergency found seven dead on an overcrowded boat and rescued 57 people, with two of the rescued in critical condition.
DIE WELT said the people had set out the day before from the Libyan coastal town of Zuwara on a wooden boat, and Emergency called for urgent medical rescue for the two in critical condition. The article also cited the International Organization for Migration saying that in the central Mediterranean at least 872 people have died or are considered missing in the waters this year.