Migrants saved from thunderstorm off Libya

Thirty-four migrants including women and a toddler who were rescued by a German sailboat have been successfully taken aboard a humanitarian ship in international waters north of Libya, despite a thunderstorm.

The people were transferred Monday evening from the 14-meter sailboat Josefa run by the group Resqship to Ocean Viking, a Norwegian-flagged vessel run jointly by SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders.

The transfer was performed by the SOS Mediterranee search and rescue team near the Bouri oil fields some 65 nautical miles from the Libyan coast after Josefa declared a state of emergency.

An Associated Press journalist aboard the Ocean Viking witnessed the complex operation.

The 22 men, six women and a toddler had been saved by the Josefa from a rubber boat with a broken engine earlier on Monday.

AP