The Humanitarian vessel the MV Aquarius docks at Boiler Wharf in Senglea, Malta, on Aug. 15, 2018. The Humanitarian vessel the MV Aquarius docked in Malta on Wednesday afternoon with 141 rescued migrants on board. (Xinhua/Roberto Runza)
VALLETTA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Humanitarian vessel the MV Aquarius docked in Malta on Wednesday afternoon with 141 rescued migrants on board.
Before being granted permission to enter Malta, the ship had been stranded at sea for four days, as the Mediterranean states including Malta, Italy, Spain and Tunisia initially refused to accept the ship.
The migrants on board, including 73 children, were rescued from two separate wooden fishing vessels as they were attempting to cross the Mediterranean from Libya.
In a statement, the Maltese government said there were 97 men and 44 women on board, and 12 of them, including two pregnant women and five infants, were taken to hospital upon disembarkation.
The government said that the migrants on board claimed to be from Bangladesh, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo, Egypt, Eritrea, Morocco and Somalia.
The disembarkation was coordinated by the AFM (Armed Forces of Malta) and supervised by the UNHCR (UN Refugee Agency).
"Once the immigrants are medically cleared, they will be escorted to the reception centre where eventually the distribution process of immigrants among France, Germany, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain will be initiated," the government said.
