Three refugees were rescued in a rubber boat off the coast of De Haan. They had been bobbing for days and had been hypothermic. According to the public prosecutor’s office, a drama has been avoided.
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An inflatable boat with three refugees was rescued off the coast of De Haan on Monday afternoon. This is confirmed by the public prosecutor’s office of West Flanders, Bruges department. According to their own statements, the transmigrants had been floating around the North Sea for several days.
The rickety boat was spotted by a Dutch Navy ship five miles off the coast of De Haan on Monday afternoon. The rescue boat R6-Orca and the vessel of the shipping police immediately left Ostend and Zeebrugge. The Belgian navy vessel Pollux also went in that direction. The big waves made it too dangerous to launch the shipping police’s inflatable lifeboat. The three were eventually taken on board by the Pollux and taken to Zeebrugge.
The boat refugees were received in Zeebrugge by three ambulances. Initial reports indicate that transmigrants are said to be hypothermic. According to their own statements, they had been floating around the North Sea for several days. After the necessary medical care, they will be thoroughly examined. The police and public prosecutor’s office naturally want to find out whether smugglers were involved in their attempt to reach the United Kingdom.
Small boats are increasingly being used to allow transmigrants to make the crossing to the United Kingdom. On Saturday morning, fifteen refugees were already rescued near De Panne from a boat that made water. In a similar incident, a boat capsized off the coast of De Panne in January. In that case, two Afghans were identified as suspected human traffickers. In other human smuggling files, there are also several suspects in the cell for supplying rubber boats.
According to the prosecutor’s office, another drama was avoided on Monday. “The small rubber boat was not adapted at all to allow people to sail in the North Sea. The weather conditions today cause such a big wave that there was a real chance that the boat would capsize and people would end up in the water, ”said attorney Frank Demeester.
ALSO READ. Sinking transmigrants call for help with one of the last working mobile phones: “Had their boat capsized, they could have died” (+)
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