Spanish rescue boat “Open Arms” arrived in the southern port of Algeciras on Thursday with 87 migrants the crew said they had rescued off the coast of Libya.
The charity Proactiva Open Arms operates in the sea between Libya and southern Europe in a mission aimed at aiding migrants who have found themselves in trouble during an attempt to cross the sea from northern Africa.
The 87 people were rescued from an inflatable raft which was floating directionless with a broken motor in the open sea on Aug. 2, Open Arms said.
Those saved included 84 from Sudan, a Syrian, an Egyptian and a Gambian. There were 12 children included in those saved, the group said.
“We came across the raft where the people were in a very bad state and very afraid that we were a Libyan boat and we planned to return them to Libya,” Open Arms mission head Ricardo Gatti said during a news conference in Thursday.
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