Scenes of desperation as migrant ship sinks during rescue

By FRANCISCO SECO
Associated Press

ABOARD THE ASTRAL (AP) — A Spanish maritime rescue group and Italy’s coast guard have helped pull some 40 people from the Mediterranean Sea after their overcrowded wooden boat capsized during a rescue operation. An Associated Press photographer who was aboard the ship operated by Spanish group Open Arms documented the harrowing rescue on Thursday as people desperately clung to the overturned boat as it sank. Open Arms tweeted that all the passengers survived and were transferred to an Italian coast guard ship. The group said the passengers originally were from Eritrea and Sudan. The rescue took place in high winds and rough seas south of Lampedusa, an Italian island which is often the destination of choice for migrant-smuggling operations based in Libya.