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Migrant rescue ship saves 95 in Mediterranean, at least 4 missing

The Ocean Viking rescued 95 migrants off the Libyan coast Wednesday, but at least four were still missing, the French NGO that operates the humanitarian vessel said.

Some of those rescued said at least four people were thought to have fallen into the sea before rescuers reached their overloaded boat.

A patrol plane belonging to the German humanitarian NGO Sea Watch had spotted the vessel and raised the alarm.

Teams from SOS Mediterranee, which runs Ocean Viking, searched for the missing for hours, in vain.

The NGO said it regretted that “two Libyan patrol boats in the area left without responding to requests for support in the search”.

The central Mediterranean route is the world’s most dangerous migration pathway, according to the International Organization for Migration, which estimates that 1,377 migrants went missing in the area in 2022.