Miracle Rescue: 11-Year-Old Girl Survives Stormy Mediterranean for Three Days

The girl, from Sierra Leone, survived alone at sea after her boat sank, highlighting the ongoing migrant crisis in the Mediterranean.

An 11-year-old girl has been miraculously rescued after spending three harrowing days clinging to inner tubes in the turbulent waters of the Mediterranean. Rescuers from the non-governmental organisation Compass Collective were en route to another emergency when they heard her desperate calls for help. The young girl, who remains unnamed, hails from Sierra Leone and revealed that she had embarked on the perilous journey along with 44 others from Sfax, Tunisia. Tragically, their vessel sank, leaving her as the sole survivor, with all the others presumed dead.

The rescue took place around 03:20 local time on Wednesday, as Compass spokeswoman Katja Tempel detailed that the girl was discovered wearing a basic life jacket while using two inner tubes to stay afloat. She recounted how their metal boat succumbed to the elements within seconds during a storm that produced towering 3.5-meter-high (11.5-foot) waves. Initially, she had been with two other individuals, but they lost contact amid the chaos.

Upon her rescue, the girl was taken to the island of Lampedusa and successfully handed over to Italian authorities. Remarkably, she was able to walk and communicate, sparking hope amidst the tragic backdrop of the migrant crisis. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has reported that a staggering 30,955 migrants have died or remain missing in the Mediterranean since they began tracking these figures a decade ago. Italy has seen the largest influx this year, with over 63,000 arrivals, as reported by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. Although the numbers have somewhat decreased, this is largely attributed to stricter policies enacted by Italy's right-wing government under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, aimed at curbing migrant inflows.