At least 7,000 migrants from Africa have been rescued by the Italian Coast Guard off the Libyan coast last weekend. The boats that carried them, which were only motorized rubber crafts, were bound for Europe. The migrants have been passengers of a shipwreck that happened in the Mediterranean Sea two weeks ago, according to Reuters.
The effort by the coast guards took 17 different operations as of press time and the death toll is expected to rise. Retrieval of more passengers and presumed dead victims are also still underway. However, a mother reportedly gave birth to a baby girl in one of the Italian navy ships that carried the rescued passengers.
The crew of the navy ship Bettica found the mother in labor on Sunday and overnight, the baby was born at sea. Sara Modde, who works with the Order of Malta and is part of the rescue mission as a medic, delivered the child, as reported by Telegraph.
"She is a beautiful baby girl who has touched everyone on board. The mother started to have contractions as soon as she was brought aboard and gave birth after eight hours," said Vincenzo Pascale, the captain of Bettica. Later, a photo of the baby, whom the mother named Francesca Marina, was posted online by the rescuers, according to separate report from Reuters. Marina, which is the Italian word for "navy," was shown sleeping in a makeshift cradle adorned by pink ribbons.
Arriving at Sicilly, the authorities confirmed that Marina and her mother are in good health. They have been taken to a southern port in the island, where they are expected to get more medical treatment. Unfortunately, these two are not the only mother and child waiting to be rescued as teams from other organizations noted that there are still other pregnant women, children, and babies in other vessels. "The scale of this crisis is just heartbreaking," said Will Turner, who works with Doctors Without Borders.
Ten people reportedly died from the shipwreck, said the report from Reuters, while the rest of the passengers are in bad condition. The smugglers cramped them in their rubber crafts for days that they were unable to move their arms and legs. The Italian navy, together with the EU, pledged for more rescue boats to help the remaining migrants especially the women and children.
This is a normal occurrence in the Mediterranean Sea. This year alone, 51,000 were reportedly smuggled to Europe by sea, with 1,800 perishing from the attempts, according to Reuters.
