One of the three little girls who were fighting for their lives at Makarios Hospital has passed away.
The girl was found on a boat with 61 other migrants, offshore Cape Greco.
According to the spokesperson of the State Health Services Organisation (SHSO), Charalambos Charlilaou, as reported to philenews, the girl died from cardiac arrest despite the enormous efforts of the doctors.
The other two girls continue to be hospitalized at Makarios Hospital, and their condition is described as critical.
The small wooden boat carrying migrants, which had been missing since January 18, was located at 4:30 am on Wednesday, 30 nautical miles east off Cape Greco.
The information was provided to the Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) by the commercial ship FOLEGANDROS.
The JRCC activated the National Search and Rescue Plan NEARCHOS, mobilizing vessels from the Coast Guard and the Maritime Police to safely transport the boat’s passengers to the Ayia Napa marina.
The Coast Guard members found people in very poor condition, with three children and one man in an unconscious state, and three others with fractures in their legs, according to the JRCC.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and first aid were administered, and additional vessels from the Coast Guard and Maritime Police, a helicopter from the Police Aviation Unit, and a helicopter from the National Guard’s 460 MEDEVAC were dispatched.
The first helicopter transported the two children to Famagusta General Hospital, while the second transported the third girl and the adult to Larnaca General Hospital, both of whom were unconscious.
Due to the critical condition of the three girls, they were later transferred to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of Makarios Hospital.
According to Andreas Charalambides, the JRCC commander, the children are three and four years old, and two of them are siblings who were on the boat with their mother.
The new Minister of Health, Michalis Damianos, visited Makarios Hospital yesterday afternoon to be briefed on the health condition of the children.
The remaining migrants were transferred by Coast Guard boat to the Ayia Napa marina, where a large operation involving the Ambulance Service, Police, and Civil Defense was set up for the immediate transportation to hospitals of those in need.
According to the migrants, they had set sail from Lebanon on January 18 to reach Cyprus, but the boat’s engine malfunctioned, and due to weather conditions, they lost their direction.
Relatives of the migrants residing in Cyprus had reported the disappearance of the boat to the Cypriot authorities. Despite the searches, the small boat could not be located.
Late yesterday afternoon, a 47-year-old man from Syria was arrested as a suspect in human trafficking, and he will be brought before the court within the day.
