A Nigerian woman making her way desperately to Europe via the Mediterranean sea, has narrowly escaped death.
Mariam Ohene
A Nigerian woman identified as Mariam Ohene with her four-day-old baby and a two-year-old son, has been rescued from drowning in the Mediterranean sea, The Punch reports.
The trio, along with Ohene’s Ghanaian husband, Richard were among the 480 migrants rescued by humanitarian ships on Saturday in the central Mediterranean Sea.
Ohene and her family who had lived in Libya for two years said they made the move to leave the country for Europe immediately their baby was born, not anticipating what could happen at sea.
The family traveled on one of two rubber boats carrying more than 200 migrants from North and Central Africa, Sri Lanka and Yemen that was seen drifting north of the Libyan town of Sabratha.
The route is known as the most frequently used departure point used by people smugglers in Libya.
Spanish NGO, Proactiva Open Arms saved the family in an operation that lasted several hours as they were transfered alongside other migrants into a former fishing trawler, Golfo Azzurro.
The survivors were taken to Augusta, Sicily in Italy.