A decade after EUâs migrant crisis, hundreds still dying in Mediterranean
A small rubber boat carrying 57 people who are trying to reach Europe from Libya is running out of fuel in the Mediterranean Sea. The passengers use a satellite phone to call an emergency hotline for migrants, but the connection drops before they can provide their location coordinates.
2:39 a.m.
The passengers call back and provide a location about midway between Libya and the closest European territory, the Italian island of Lampedusa, according to Alarm Phone, the charity that runs the hotline.
It has been nearly 23 hours since the passengers began their journey. They say they are tired and have not eaten since the previous morning, a timeline provided by Alarm Phone shows.
3:09 a.m.
The passengers call the hotline again. Their boat has stopped, and they have no more fuel, they say.
They are now adrift in the Mediterranean, a vast expanse of water where tens of thousands of migrants have disappeared over the past decade.
An Alarm Phone volunteer urges the passengers to remain calm and try starting the engine again.
It still won't start.
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