By Sophia Doan
Yasmine, an 11 year old girl from Sierra Leone was found on December 11, 2024 grabbing onto tire tubes to stay floating on the Italian Coast. Afloat for approximately three days after a shipwreck, Yasmine clung onto the rubber in order to survive. None of the other 45 people present on the ship have been accounted for. According to information she gave to the Tromar II rescue vessel crew, who picked her up off of the Mediterranean Sea, there were initially two other people in the water swimming with her after the crash. However, no one else was found alive.
The metal boat filled with migrants trying to reach Italy to seek asylum overturned overnight in the middle of an intense storm.
Tromar II rescue vessel crew, a ship that was initially headed to help aid another wreck, heard Yasmine’s cries and saw the debris and rushed to her rescue. According to the crew of the ship, “it was an incredible coincidence that we heard the child’s voice even though the engine was running.” They surveyed the wreckage for other survivors, but between the day-long storm and 2.5 meter waves, it was a miracle anyone survived.
Yasmine was immediately rushed to the hospital where she is currently being treated for severe hypothermia. She is expected to survive.
This situation and many other wrecks in the Mediterranean sea has recently forced the Italian government to reexamine their asylum seeking processes. Around 64,000 people have been rescued trying to reach Italy before enduring the roughness of the sea.