This archive report was first published on 26 October 2019.
On October 26, 2019, the migrant rescue ship Alan Kurdi, operated by the NGO Sea-Eye, was involved in a distressing incident off the coast of Libya.
According to Sea-Eye spokesman Gorden Isler, the crew received a distress call and located a boat carrying 90 migrants, including two women, and rescued them.
However, their rescue efforts were disrupted by three speedboats carrying masked and heavily armed men, who were flying a Libyan flag.
The armed men fired shots into the air and water, where several migrants had fallen in, prompting Sea-Eye to express shock and outrage at the 'brutal behavior'.
Isler stated, 'We are in shock: we have never been threatened in this way!' and accused European Union countries of allowing such behavior.
The Alan Kurdi ship was not in Libyan waters at the time, but was headed to the Italian island of Lampedusa with the migrants on board.
This incident comes a week after 104 people were rescued off the coast of Libya by the Ocean Viking Ship, run by NGOs SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders.
