Tag: drowning

Some 400 migrants drown in shipwreck off Libya

About 400 migrants died in an attempt to reach Italy from Libya when their boat capsized. This is the latest tragedy in the Mediterranean where the death toll from shipwrecks has surged this year.

The boat, carrying about 550 migrants in total, flipped about 24 hours after leaving the Libyan coast, according to some of the 150
survivors who were rescued and brought to a southern Italian port on Tuesday morning, Save the Children reported.

Before this incident there had already been more than 500 deaths of migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Africa this year, up sharply from 47 in the same period of 2014, says the Geneva-based International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

The survivors of the latest shipwreck were mostly sub-Saharan Africans, but no further details were available, a Save the Children spokesperson tells Reuters. It is not clear exactly when the boat had capsized.

The number of boats carrying migrants aiming to reach the EU from Africa has picked up in recent weeks as fine spring weather makes the passage safer.

In February, more than 300 drowned when attempting the crossing in cold weather and rough seas. Save the Children, the IOM and other humanitarian organisations have called for the European Union to bolster its sea rescue operations before the migrant flows soar as they usually do in the summer months.

On Monday, 2 851 migrants were saved in rescue operations in the Mediterranean, the Italian coast guard said, adding to at least nine who died and 5 629 who were saved over the weekend. Italy, which handled the largest number of migrant arrivals in the EU, has become increasingly alarmed about the breakdown of law and order in Libya, which has greatly exacerbated the task of tackling the migrant flows.

Source: Reuters

White boy saves drowing man while black lifeguards look on

The girlfriend of a man who suffered a near drowning at Bloemfontein’s Maselspoort Resort yesterday says if it wasn’t for a heroic matric at the scene, her boyfriend would be dead.

The woman, who has requested to remain anonymous, says her boyfriend hit his head while riding the supertube at the resort. She says the black lifeguard on duty failed to respond rapidly when her boyfriend had difficulties in the pool at the end of the slide and adds when he did react, he was unable to locate the victim.

She says a white matric boy, Branden Terblanche, 18, saved the day by finding her boyfriend and retrieving him from the water. Bystanders with emergency response training then assisted while a different lifeguard provided respiratory aid until paramedics arrived.

Bloemfontein resident Terblanche, who wrote matric last year, says he does not know the victim but reacted immediately to the woman’s shouts. He was on his way up to the top of the slide but rushed down to pull the unconscious man from the pool.

The woman says her boyfriend is in a serious but stable condition in the High Care Unit at Pelonomi Hospital.

She says the near drowning has left his lungs flooded with moisture which puts him at risk of suffering what is known as a dry drowning. He is being monitored and is expected to remain in hospital for the next two to three days.