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400 refugees saved in 72 hours off Libyan coast with no help from European authorities
Rescuers on board the Sea-Eye 4 call for a port of safety to disembark the rescued

CIVILIAN refugee rescuers have saved the lives of more than 400 people in just 72 hours in the central Mediterranean — with no help from the European maritime authorities.

The activist-run emergency hotline organisation Alarm Phone alerted the crew of the Sea-Eye 4 to 50 people in need of rescue on Friday as they reached the Libyan search-and-rescue (SAR) zone.

All they found, however, was an empty wooden boat missing its motor, Kai Echelmeyer, a spokesman for the German charity Sea-Eye, which operates the ship, told the Star today.

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