Plea to help 52 migrants stranded on cattle cargo ship

Rome, Jul 7 (efe-epa).- A group of 52 migrants stranded on a cattle cargo ship after being rescued from the Mediterranean Sea are in urgent need of help, NGO Open Arms on Tuesday.

The captain of the Lebanese ship Talia said the situation on board is critical with people forced to shelter in dirty animal pens due to bad weather with dwindling food and water supplies.

Italy and Malta have denied the boat permission to dock after it rescued the group from a sinking dinghy on Friday.

“SOS. Like animals, this is how Europe sees them. Rescued by Talia, the only place to shelter are the cattle pens: excruciating stench, animal dirt, with hardly any food and water left,” Open Arms wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.

“Their condition is critical, wounded and malnourished. Damn the EU, their black lives matter.”

Open Arms tweeted a video that sees many of the group lying in cramped conditions on the ground of dirty animal pens.

The captain Mohammad Shaaban can be heard begging for help in English.

“As you see this is the immigrant in very bad condition and in very bad health, most of them are very dire, most of them feel very in pain, feel very faint,” he says.

“What can I do with all these people, if there is no more food to feeding them, no more water.

“My ship don’t have the facilities to help… I hope someone help, I hope someone help really.