Sea Watch Rescues Stranded Migrants from BP Oil Rig Near Tunisia

Lampedusa: The Aurora vessel, operated by the charity Sea Watch, set sail from Lampedusa on Tuesday to rescue a group of migrants who had been stranded on the BP oil rig Miskar, off the coast of Tunisia, for four days.

According to Ansa News Agency, the rescue operation was initiated after a reconnaissance plane operated by Sea Watch spotted the group on the oil platform on Saturday. The migrants had been accompanied by an empty rubber dinghy found floating nearby, indicating their journey from Libya.

The group, consisting of 32 individuals including women and children, was in urgent need of assistance. The NGO emphasized that the oil platform was not equipped to provide care for the migrants and that there were no other rescue efforts in progress at the time.

Tragically, Sea Watch and the NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans reported that one of the passengers on the dinghy had allegedly passed away, underscoring the dire circumstances faced by the stranded migrants.