From the Sea Watch facebook page, today, 21 October 2016:
Breaking News: Libyan Coast Guard attack on Sea-Watch rescue operation causes multiple dead
An intervention by a speedboat, labelled as Libyan Coast Guard, during one of today’s rescue operation caused several deaths today in the Central Med, 14nm off Libya.
During our first-aid delivery for a rubber boat with approximately 150 migrants on board, a Libyan Coast Guard vessel arrived and attacked the refugees, entering the rubber boat and hitting them with sticks. Our two speed boats were furthermore beset aggressively, preventing our crew from further providing life vests and medical aid to the people in need.
The violent intervention of the Libyan Coast Guard caused a situation of mass panic on board the rubber boat in distress, in the cause one tube of the rubber boat collapsed, causing the majority of the 150 people to slip into the water. Our crew immediately tried to rescue as many as possible but a number of people could not be saved. 4 bodies were recovered onto the Sea-Watch, another 4 unconscious people are currently receiving medical treatment. 120 refugees could be rescued aboard our vessel.
Sea Watch is a citizen initiative of volunteers who have dedicated themselves to saving refugees on the Mediterranean, where surrounding nations and the EU refuses tro provide rescue missions for the many thousands of refugees that are in peril on the Mediterranean each year. In 2015, using just one small boat, Sea Watch saved 5000 lives.
QueerAnarchism 