At around 3.20 a.m., the crew of the "Trotamar III", a 13-metre-long sailing boat belonging to the NGO Compass Collective, heard cries for help despite the engine noise and strong winds. The helpers were on their way to the last reported position of a refugee boat. According to the NGO, skipper Matthias Wiedenlübbert immediately alerted the rest of the crew and steered the boat in the direction of the calls.
Truck tyres as lifebuoys
When they reached the spot, they were greeted by an incredible sight: A girl was floating alone in the water, equipped with a lifejacket and clinging to two large hoses from truck tyres. Skipper Matthias Wiedenlübbert: "It was an incredible coincidence that we heard the child's voice despite the engine running." The girl was hypothermic, with a body temperature of around 35 degrees, but was responsive. After she was rescued, she was cared for and handed over to the rescue service on Lampedusa at 6 am.
The dramatic accident
The rescued child introduced herself as Yasmine, 11 years old and from Sierra Leone. She reported that she had set sail three days earlier with 44 other people, including her older brother and a cousin, on a small iron boat from Sfax, Tunisia. After a few days at sea, a strong storm came up. Yasmine said: "The sea became far too big for us. Water flooded into the boat and capsized it."
At first, two other people clung to the air chambers with her. They prayed together, but at some point Yasmine lost sight of the others and was all alone. She claimed to have floated in the water for three days.
The chances of survival
However, the doctor who looked after Yasmine after her rescue estimated that she had spent a maximum of twelve hours in the water. She would probably not have survived any longer in the wintry Mediterranean. But the shock, the cold and the loneliness could have prolonged the time in the eyes of an eleven-year-old. In addition, hypothermia makes you lose track of time.
The NGO Compass Collective
The "Trotamar III" is a sailing boat belonging to the German NGO Compass Collective, which helps people in need in the Mediterranean. The organisation supports civilian sea rescue in the central Mediterranean. Since the start of its mission in August 2023, the 13-metre-long boat with rotating crews has assisted a total of 1653 people in distress at sea and arranged for them to be rescued by alerting the rescue coordination centre in Rome. 231 people were rescued directly on board the "Trotamar III". CompassCollective comes from the Wendland region.
The refugee situation in the Mediterranean
The incident highlights the ongoing migration crisis in the Mediterranean. Time and again, people try to reach Europe by boat, often resulting in accidents with fatalities and missing persons. The Italian Ministry of the Interior counted around 64,000 people who reached Italy on boats this year. Compared to the previous year, when there were around 153,100, this is a significant decrease.
