Three young sisters from Sudan drowned after an overcrowded rubber dinghy capsized in rough seas while heading toward Italy, rescuers said. The girls, aged 9, 11, and 17, became the latest victims of a perilous migration route that has claimed over 30,000 lives since 2014. German rescue group RESQSHIP reported discovering their bodies while saving 65 others from the sinking boat in international waters off Libya.
The children’s mother and brother survived and were taken to Lampedusa, while another passenger remains missing at sea, authorities confirmed. Rescuers said the boat had departed Zuwara, Libya, on Friday and was dangerously overcrowded, deflating, and taking on water for hours.
Barbara Satore, a RESQSHIP volunteer, described a “pitch-dark night with heavy waves” and said conditions made the operation extremely dangerous. She said rescuers only discovered the bodies after evacuating most passengers, finding them submerged in a pool of water and spilled fuel.
“The medical team attempted resuscitation, but they had been underwater too long,” Satore told The Associated Press, recounting the harrowing scene. The grieving mother reportedly sat silently beside her daughters’ bodies as relatives asked for white sheets to cover them onboard.
Among the rescued were pregnant women and several children, with four requiring urgent medical evacuation to an Italian coast guard vessel. Survivors included migrants from Sudan, Mali, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, highlighting the wide desperation driving crossings from North Africa.
Separately, the NGO SOS Humanity said it saved 50 people from one vessel but lost another to Libya’s coast guard interception. The organization condemned returns to Libya, citing a UN mission that accused Libyan forces of torture, abuse, and crimes against humanity.
