A total of 26 shipwrecked, mostly women and children, from Lebanon, were rescued from the stormy sea by vessels and aircraft of the Republic of Cyprus.
An overnight refugee rescue operation was set up when the boat they were on board sounded the alarm around 20.00 last night, while it was six nautical miles east of Protaras, off Cape Greco.
A total of 26 shipwrecked, mostly women and children, from Lebanon, were rescued from the stormy sea by vessels and aircraft of the Republic of Cyprus.
The work of the Authorities was extremely difficult, due to the strong winds that blew in the area and the turbulence that prevailed.
The rescue operation involved sections of the Port Police and the Navy, the National Guard, as well as the Police Air Wing and the National Guard Air Force. The operation was coordinated by the Minister of Defense from the offices of the Search and Rescue Coordination Center in Larnaca.
Christoforos Fokaidis expressed his warm thanks and congratulations to the crews of all media, who tried with self-denial and a sense of responsibility and carried out this very difficult operation.
The rescued, after receiving first aid, were transported to Famagusta Hospital and Larnaca General Hospital.
A child, whose health condition was serious, was transported by ambulance to the General Hospital of Nicosia.
The shipwrecks started from Lebanon to Greece. Most come from the city of Tartu.
In the middle of the route, their trafficker boarded another boat and left, leaving the 26 people on the boat to fight the raging waves. According to the police, the adults paid the trafficker 2 thousand dollars each to transport them from Lebanon to Greece, while the children paid a thousand dollars. This is the fourth refugee rescue incident in Cyprus in recent months.
Source: Liberal