The search for possible missing migrants at sea continues to be active in the area between Formentera and Cabrera. A Frontex plane keeps this Sunday scheduled flights to try to locate the people who, according to the testimony of the five occupants rescued on Wednesday, would have jumped into the water during the days in which the skiff remained adrift.
Maritime Rescue sources have explained that the reconnaissance flights began on Friday and will continue as long as necessary, although for the moment there have been no new developments.
The operation, in which Frontex aerial resources and Salvage personnel are participating, was launched on November 13 following a call from the relatives of one of the occupants, who alerted of a distress message received from the boat. The warning placed the skiff about 50 miles southeast of the Pitiusas.
The Frontex plane flew to the indicated position, but when no trace was found, it began an extended aerial search to the south of Formentera, within the Spanish SAR zone. At the same time, the
In the following days a warning was issued to navigators and the support of Frontex air assets was requested as part of its regular operations in the Mediterranean. Finally, on the 19th, the skiff was located with five people on board.
According to the survivors’ account, the boat would have remained adrift for nine days and the initial group would have consisted of 23 migrants, so it is feared that the rest could have fallen into the sea during the crossing. The sea conditions of the last week, affected by the storm Claudia, generated poor visibility and extreme difficulties of navigation for a boat of these characteristics.
