Skip to main content
October on board of Dignity I
On 3 October, MSF carried out a rescue with an Irish ship. People had been in the water for quite a while by the time we arrived, and some had swallowed fuel and seawater. A 34-year-old pregnant woman from Nigeria died after we failed to resuscitate her. In the midst of the busy rescue operation, there were also six bodies in the water that couldn't be recovered. A mother lost her two children after she found herself in the water and was unable to keep hold of them.
© Mohammad Ghannam/MSF

October - A merciless month on the Mediterranean

On 3 October, MSF carried out a rescue with an Irish ship. People had been in the water for quite a while by the time we arrived, and some had swallowed fuel and seawater. A 34-year-old pregnant woman from Nigeria died after we failed to resuscitate her. In the midst of the busy rescue operation, there were also six bodies in the water that couldn't be recovered. A mother lost her two children after she found herself in the water and was unable to keep hold of them.
© Mohammad Ghannam/MSF

More than 4,200 people have died or gone missing so far in 2016 in the Mediterranean Sea. The year is not yet over, but it has now become the deadliest on record for migrants and refugees crossing the Mediterranean, trying to reach Europe. Here are some images taken in October aboard the MSF search and rescue boat Dignity I.