An 11-year-old girl from Sierra Leone was rescued after surviving three days in the Mediterranean, clinging to tyre inner tubes following a boat capsizing near Sfax, Tunisia. All 44 other passengers are presumed dead.
Compass Collective rescuers found her at 03:20 on Wednesday, wearing a basic life jacket. She recounted how her boat sank in seconds during a storm with 3.5-meter waves. The girl was handed to Italian authorities in Lampedusa, where she was able to walk and communicate.
The IOM reports over 30,000 migrant deaths in the Mediterranean in the past decade. Italy, a key destination, has seen arrivals drop this year due to stricter government policies.
