In the early morning hours of September 29, the crew of Sea-Watch’s rescue vessel Aurora rescued 28 people in international waters after a shipwreck. The crew also recovered two bodies, including that of a child. Five survivors were found on a nearly deflated rubber dinghy, and 23 others had reached the Hasdrubal platform. At least six people are believed to be missing, including three children from one family. Italian authorities have now assigned Lampedusa as place of safety, and the Aurora is on its way there.
Julia Winkler, Sea-Watch spokesperson:
Governments celebrate falling arrival numbers as a success. We see what that ‘success’ means: at least two dead and six missing, including three children. Those who make deterrence their priority accept these deaths willingly. We demand a state-run European search-and-rescue program.
In the early morning hours today, at around 4 a.m., Sea-Watch’s fast rescue vessel Aurora located a nearly deflated rubber dinghy. The civil distress hotline Alarm Phone had alerted the Aurora crew to the boat. On board were five survivors and two bodies, one of them a child. The other 23 survivors had escaped the shipwreck and reached the Hasdrubal gas platform.
After rescuing the five survivors and recovering the two bodies, the Aurora headed to the gas platform with authorization from the Tunisian maritime rescue coordination center. The platform lies in international waters, within the Tunisian search-and-rescue zone. On arrival, the rescue crew handed out life jackets and began bringing the people on board. Among them is a toddler.
According to survivors, at least six people are reported to be missing, including three children from one family. At this stage, it is not yet clear whether the child whose body the Aurora crew recovered is one of these three.
Rescue is not a favor Europe grants, it is a duty Europe fails. In 2026 alone, more than 1.970 people died or went missing during their search for safety in the Mediterranean sea. Sea-Watch calls for a state-run European search-and-rescue program.
