Baby dies of hypothermia as migrants reach Lampedusa overnight

Published connected 16/05/2026 - 15:08 GMT+2•Updated 15:17

A calamity unfolded successful the nighttime betwixt Friday and Saturday connected the land of Lampedusa, wherever a newborn migrant babe miss conscionable a fewer weeks aged died of hypothermia instantly aft disembarking and portion being rushed to the island's outpatient clinic.

At 4.30 a.m., aft being rescued by the V1307 patrol vessel of the Guardia di Finanza, 55 radical from Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria and Sierra Leone landed astatine Favarolo pier. Among them were 7 women and six minors. The babe girl, whose information instantly appeared critical, was taken unneurotic with her parent to the aesculapian facility, wherever doctors could bash thing but state her dead.

Investigation opened into the babe girl's death

The Agrigento prosecutor's bureau has opened an enquiry into the tragic lawsuit and ordered a post-mortem introspection of the child's body, a indispensable measurement to corroborate hypothermia arsenic the existent origin of death.

The assemblage is being transferred to the mortuary astatine the Cala Pisana cemetery, portion successful the coming hours the parent volition beryllium questioned by investigators to reconstruct the details of the crossing and found precisely however and erstwhile the babe fell ill.

According to accounts from different migrants connected board, the radical had acceptable disconnected from Sfax-El Amra successful Tunisia astatine astir 2 o'clock yesterday morning, making the travel successful a seven-metre metallic vessel that outgo betwixt 400 and 600 euros per person.

The babe girl's mother, primitively from Côte d'Ivoire, was aboriginal taken to the hotspot successful the Imbriacola territory unneurotic with her different daughter, aged astir two. According to reports, the woman is presently successful a terrible authorities of shock implicit the nonaccomplishment of her kid and is receiving continuous enactment from unit of the Italian Red Cross, which manages the island's reception centre.

The centre's director, Imad Dalil, confirmed to Italian media that psychosocial enactment measures had been activated. "The parent and the sister are present successful the hotspot and are successful bully carnal condition; for them and for the different people intelligence enactment was activated instantly and successful the coming hours the aesculapian and psychosocial teams volition proceed their work," helium said.

NGOs' reaction

The German NGO Sea-Watch voiced its outrage successful a powerfully worded station connected X. "While the authorities attacks those who prevention lives astatine sea, investigating the skipper of Sea-Watch, a one-month-old babe has arrived successful LAMPEDUSA, dead successful her mother's arms, aft a three-day crossing. Who volition beryllium held liable for this injustice?" The outburst refers to the news, received by the NGO aft arriving successful Brindisi with 166 rescued people, that a transgression probe has been opened against the skipper of the Sea-Watch 5 connected suspicion of aiding amerciable entry.

The UN bureau specialising successful the extortion and assistance of radical forced to fly war, unit and persecution (UNHCR) besides intervened to explicit heavy condolences and sedate interest implicit yet different unfortunate claimed on the Mediterranean routes.

"A parent has mislaid her newborn daughter, who arrived dormant this greeting unneurotic with 54 different radical successful Lampedusa. Deep sorrow and concern for the galore children and adults who should not beryllium dying successful the Mediterranean," reads a station published connected societal media by UNHCR, which explains that the bureau is connected the crushed providing assistance to the parent and each the different survivors of the landing.