An 11-year-old migrant girl, who has impeccable instincts and an unbelievable will, lived to tell the story of not only surviving a shipwreck but being at sea alone for three days. She is the only known survivor of a vessel carrying 45 people across the Mediterranean Sea.
The girl was traveling in a metal boat that left from Sfax, Tunisia. A days-long storm produced waves that measured 11 ½ feet high. The ship sank off the Italian island of Lampedusa.
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The girl’s rescue was a random stroke of good luck. CompassCollective, a German nongovernmental organization that performs sea rescue missions, shared the news of her retrieval in a December 11, 2024 press release.
While on the water CompassCollective found the preteen. The crew was in the middle of another rescue mission when crew members heard the girl shouting from the water at 3:20 a.m.
“It was an incredible coincidence that we heard the child’s voice despite the engine running,” skipper Matthias Wiedenlübbert said in the press release.
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The girl, who is originally from Sierra Leone, said she drifted in the water for three days, the BBC reported. She was able to survive with a lifejacket and two makeshift life rings made of air-filled inner tubes. She said she was in the water with two other passengers but lost contact with them.
When rescuers pulled her from the water, she was “responsive and oriented.” At the time, she had not had anything to eat or drink for three days. She was also suffering from hypothermia. CompassCollective provided medical attention on the scene.
Later that morning, around 6 a.m., CompassCollective took her to a migrant holding center in Lampedusa. The Italian Red Cross staff observed her. The CompassCollective crew looked for other survivors but it was difficult due to the storm with strong winds and high waves, Wiedenlübbert said.
This is yet another example of the dangerous journey migrants risk taking as they seek asylum and better opportunities. Since the International Organization for Migration first started counting figures 10 years ago, 30,955 migrants have died — or remain missing — crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
Katja Tempel of CompassCollective says this story is another example of the need for safe routes. “Even in storms, people are forced to use risky escape routes across the Mediterranean,” Tempel said. “We need safe passages for refugees and an open Europe that welcomes people and gives them easy access to the asylum system. Drowning in the Mediterranean is not an option.”
Head of the United Nations’ children’s agency UNICEF in Italy, Nicola Dell’Arciprete, told Business Insider Africa, “In this festive period, in which the majority of us are lucky to be with our loved ones, my thoughts go out to the girl from Sierra Leone.”
