One-year-old twins lost at sea during migrant crossing to Italy

Migrants are seen on board of a rubber boat during a rescue operation in the international waters of the central Mediterranean by members of the 'Doctors without Borders', MSF, Thursday, Nov.28, 2024. (Stefan Pejovic/MSF Via AP)

One-year-old twin girls have been lost at sea after their migrant boat encountered stormy weather during the crossing from Tunisia to Italy, Save the Children said Friday.

About 60 people -- including the twin’s mother -- were rescued and brought to safety on the Italian island of Lampedusa Thursday, though a man died after disembarking, it said.

“Two one-year-old twin girls are missing at sea and an adult man has died after 61 people disembarked yesterday in Lampedusa,” said the charity, which helped the survivors.

The survivors, including some 22 unaccompanied minors and two children, “faced a crossing in extremely difficult conditions, further exacerbated by the passage of Cyclone Harry”.

“They described having departed from Tunisia, braving stormy seas for at least three days, and arriving in a state of great physical and psychological distress,” it said.

The Central Mediterranean is the deadliest known migration route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

“In the absence of regular and safe routes, those seeking a possible future in Europe by crossing the Mediterranean continue to risk their lives on dangerous and often deadly journeys, as evidenced by the more than 33,300 people who have died or gone missing at sea since 2024,” said Save the Children.

Giorgia D’Errico, the charity’s Director of Institutional Relations, said the EU has responsibility for every decision which puts those fleeing poverty, violence and persecution at risk.

“We cannot silently watch the loss of human lives, including so many children, that has continued for years, making the sea, once again, a deadly border: this unacceptable massacre must end,” she said.

Save the Children “strongly reiterates its call for the opening of regular and safe channels to Europe” and “a coordinated and structured search and rescue system in the Mediterranean”, it said.