The Guardian said on November 18 that the MSF had traveled 30 nautical miles (55 km) by the Geo Barents search and rescue ship to reach the boat carrying more than 100 migrants. These people are heading to Europe.
After 99 people - all of whom showed signs of tension and acute injuries - were taken to rescue ships, the rescue team discovered 10 bodies in the lower holdings.
According to survivors, the incident occurred on November 16, the victims suffocated after 13 hours of jostling on a cramped wooden boat with a strong smell of fuel.
Fulvia Conte, deputy head of MSF's search and rescue team, said: "It took us nearly two hours to salvage them and get them onto the ship, so they could be buried as soon as they arrived. I felt both scared and angry. This is a tragedy at sea that could have been avoided.
In less than 24 hours, the Geo Barents carried out three rescue missions in Malta and Libya, bringing 186 people safely onto the ship, including the survivors. Rescued people came from Guinea, Nigeria, the Gulf of Thailand, Somalia and Syria, including children, the youngest was just 10 months old.
Since the start of the year, an estimated 1,225 people have died or gone missing while trying to cross the central Mediterranean. Since 2014, 22,825 people have died or gone missing on the route.
