Migrant mother gives birth to twins as she attempts to enter Greece on board sinking rubber dinghy - video
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Version 0 of 1. A woman from Cameroon gave birth to twins as she attempted to travel to Greece on board a sinking rubber dinghy over the weekend. The Greek coast guard discovered the twins as its staff rescued at least 37 people that had found themselves in trouble when their dinghy began taking on water while travelling across the Aegean Sea. In the pictures released by the Greek coast guard on Sunday, the naked twins can be seen being held up by passengers, with their umbilical cords still uncut. The Coast Guard said the two babies had been born prematurely and were suffering from hypothermia when they were discovered. The mother and her children were quickly airlifted to the mainland and then transported to a hospital in Athens where they continue to receive treatment. The miraculous birth occurred as passengers on the dinghy were believed to be attempting to enter Greece by boat after paying smugglers to help them travel across the Aegean Sea from Africa. The remaining passengers were transported by private boat to the Greek island of Agathonisi. It is the latest story in which babies have had to be rescued while making the arduous journey to Europe by sea. On Saturday, a baby from Somalia had to be rescued by Italian coast guards after it became ill while travelling on a container ship just of the coast of southern Italian island Pantelleria. The two stories come in the wake of this weekend's tragedy that saw a smuggler’s boat crammed with hundreds of migrants capsize on Saturday night. According to survivors, there could have been up to 950 people aboard the boat, with many believed to have been locked in the vessel’s hold as it sunk. So far only 28 survivors have been found, with the Italian Coast Guard stepping up its rescue efforts. It is the latest in a long list of tragedies that have seen migrants drown as they try to seek a better life in Europe. According to AP, 35,000 asylum seekers and migrants have reached Europe and more than 900 are known to have died trying in 2015. |