Syrian who set out solo from Libya in tiny boat is rescued
Mon., Dec. 4, 2017
ROME – A Syrian refugee has been saved at sea after setting out solo in a tiny boat from Libya, where he told rescuers he was practically a slave.
The 30-year-old man told rescuers aboard the rescue boat of Proactiva Open Arms that he worked as a nurse in Libya for three years after fleeing Syria’s war and feared for his life.
Riccardo Gatti, chief of mission aboard the NGO rescue ship, told The Associated Press by phone Monday that the ship, about 25 miles off Libya’s coast, was about to head to Malta to change crew amid worsening weather, when a crew member, using binoculars, spotted the 10-foot dinghy Friday.
He said the man recounted that he had left 20 hours earlier from an isolated Libya beach.
Local journalism is essential.
Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are not tax deductible, but are predominately used to help meet the local financial requirements needed to receive national matching-grant funds.
Subscribe now to get breaking news alerts in your email inbox
Get breaking news delivered to your inbox as it happens.