Updated 5.30pm with port request
A boat with 97 migrants on board was rescued by a private vessel in Malta's search and rescue zone on Saturday after Maltese authorities ignored a request for assistance, according to the NGO Alarm Phone.
The Open Arms rescue vessel is now requesting to disembark the migrants, among them 17 minors and two women, in Malta, a spokesperson told Times of Malta.
Alarm Phone said it had received a distress call at 3am on Saturday from a boat which fled from Libya and was in Malta’s search zone.
“We tried to get in touch with the rescue centre in Malta, but they never pick up the phone and sometimes just hung up immediately without answering,” an Alarm Phone spokesperson said.
“While it is very stressful, it has become standard, and we are used to Maltese rescue centres not answering or hanging up."
The migrants were rescued around midday by an Open Arms rescue ship.
The vessel was already carrying 157 migrants from a rescue which took place on December 31 outside the Libyan search zone. The ship now has more than 250 people on board.
"Open Arms is still in Maltese waters and hopefully will reach a safe port soon to disembark," the Alarm Phone...
