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Nearly 70 migrants, the vast majority of which suffered heavy burns, have been rescued by the Italian coastguard after two days on the Mediterranean Sea. The victims were found on board a half-inflated rubber dinghy that had set sail from Libya.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said survivors told its staff that they were victims of a cooking gas explosion at a holding centre run by smugglers in Libya.
SOUNDBITE (English) Barbara Molinario, UNHCR:
"They told us that they were in one of the places where traffickers hold migrants and refugees before placing them on boats, and a gas cylinder exploded and killed several people and injured many others. The traffickers would not allow them to leave and reach the hospital so they did not get treatment for few days and then they were put on a boat, in fact on a rubber dinghy, and when rescuers arrived they had spent two days at sea but they were drifting away because their rubber dinghy was half deflated already."
UN officials say nearly 500 migrants have died this week trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea. Over 35,000 refugees and migrants have crossed the Mediterranean this year. At the same time, some 950 people have been reported dead or missing at sea.
Briefing journalists in Geneva, Joel Millman, a spokesperson for the International Organization for Migration, said, "We're talking about a death toll this year that's already 10 times of what it was last year. And when you recall that we reported I think 3179 deaths in the Mediterranean last year, if this trend were to continue, we'd be talking about over 30,000 and that's quite alarming."
Speaking at the same briefing, UNHCR Spokesperson Adrian Edwards said, "This latest incident involving human smugglers shows the urgent need to create credible, safe, legal alternatives so that refugees don't need to put their lives at risk in this way."
The victims were taken to a health centre on the island. Many will be taken by helicopter to the mainland for treatment.
Among them was the body of a 25-year old woman who had perished during the journey.
Their ordeal at the hand of smugglers is over for now. Those who made it alive will have to find the strength to rebuild their lives on safer shores.
STORY: ITALY / LAMPEDUSA MIGRANTS WRAP
SOURCE: UNHCR / UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 17 APRIL 2015, LAMPEDUSA, ITALY / GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST:
17 APRIL 2015, LAMPEDUSA, ITALY
1. Wide shot, boat that rescued migrants and refugees at sea
2. Wide shot, Helicopter flying over
3. Wide shot, rescue operation ongoing
4. Med shot, injured women being place on a stretcher
17 APRIL 2015, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Joel Millman, spokesperson, IOM:
"We're talking about a death toll this year that's already 10 times of what it was last year. And when you recall that we reported I think 3179 deaths in the Mediterranean last year, if this trend were to continue, we'd be talking about over 30,000 and that's quite alarming."
17 APRIL 2015, LAMPEDUSA, ITALY
6. Tracking, woman suffering burns being helped off the boat
7. Med shot, man suffering burns being helped to walk
8. Tracking, a rescued refugee woman's burnt face
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Barbara Molinario, UNHCR:
"They told us that they were in one of the places where traffickers hold migrants and refugees before placing them on boats, and a gas cylinder exploded and killed several people and injured many others. The traffickers would not allow them to leave and reach the hospital so they did not get treatment for few days and then they were put on a boat, in fact on a rubber dinghy, and when rescuers arrived they had spent two days at sea but they were drifting away because their rubber dinghy was half deflated already."
10. Various shots, rescue workers carrying an injured person off the boat
11. Med shot, child resting
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Barbara Molinario, UNHCR:
"We have seen severe burns before, but they are usually due to the conditions on the boats, usually due to the fact they are sitting in fuel and salty water for few days; so they come and they are burnt; nothing as bad as this obviously, both because the burns were more severe, because more people were injured, and because they also involved very small children."
13. Tracking, injured woman being helped off the boat
17 APRIL 2015, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Adrian Edwards, Spokesperson, UNHCR:
"This latest incident involving human smugglers shows the urgent need to create credible, safe, legal alternatives so that refugees don't need to put their lives at risk in this way."
17 APRIL 2015, LAMPEDUSA, ITALY
14. Tracking, man being helped off the boat
15. Various shots, body in bag being taken off the boat
1. Med shot Domenico Bartolo, Chief of health services on Lampedusa entering health centre where survivors are being treated for burns.
2. Close up, burn patient
3. Wide shot, patients
4. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Domenico Bartolo, Chief of health services on Lampedusa:
"Certainly there are severe burns. At least ten of them are in critical condition. It is possible that they might not survive, but we hope for the best."
5. Wide shot, ambulances arriving on tarmac of Lampedusa Airport to transport patients on Navy helicopter
6. Wide and pan, medical staff taking in a patient into the navy helicopter
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Mihreteab, Refugee rescued at sea:
8. " Please, It is impossible to explain in the accident. After the accident their clothes were all burned by the fire, their bodies injured."
9. Wide shot, men waiting for news of their wives
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Teklabraham, Refugee rescued at sea: "But already the ladies were crying, as they're burning they are crying. Then I was… I don't know, I cannot describe, how can I describe… for me this is problem."
11. Wide shot, Survivor Solomon, 25 years old, walking inside the reception center
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Solomon, Refugee rescued at sea: "I didn't imagine, I didn't think anything like that, I thought that I would be dead now. Somebody used their clothes to get the water out (off the boat), somebody thinking how to save their lives. Cannot do anything about it, just thanks to God."
13. Med shot, Solomon, sitting
14. Close up, Solomon, hands on head
15. SOUNDBITE (English)Solomon, Refugee rescued at sea:
"I can't explain."
DURATION: 05:35
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