The Ocean Viking migrant-rescue
ship picked up 109 people in two operations in the Mediterranean
on Tuesday, said medical-aid NGO MSF, which runs the vessel with
SOS Méditerranée.
It said via Twitter that it rescued 48 people from a wooden
boat in distress, 53 nautical miles from the coast of #Libya,
including women, very young children and a newborn baby.
The ship then picked up 61 people from a rubber dinghy in
distress.
Many of the people picked up from the dinghy were being
treated by MSF medics for fuel inhalation, it said.
At the weekend the Ocean Viking was allowed to disembark 82
migrants at the Italian island of Lampedusa, a decision that
marked a shift in Italian policy under Premier Giuseppe Conte's
second government.
NGO-run migrant-rescue ships were denied access to Italy's
ports under former interior minister and League leader Matteo
Salvini, who pulled the plug on Conte's first government last
month.
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