THE “beautiful co-operation” between NGO rescuers today saved the lives of over 100 people fleeing Libya across the central Mediterranean.

One of the 120 people on the rubber boat this morning managed to contact the refugee distress hotline network Alarm Phone, whose activists then alerted the maritime authorities and the nearby NGO refugee rescue ship, the Ocean Viking.

The Ocean Viking managed to reach the people this afternoon before the EU-supported Libyan coastguard could intercept them.