9-Month-Pregnant Nigerian Woman Rescued From Migrant Ship

Malta’s armed forces airlifted a 9 months pregnant Nigerian woman and her husband Wednesday from a charity-run ship carrying more than 80 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean Sea.

A helicopter winched the couple off the Ocean Viking, a sea rescue ship operated by nonprofit groups SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders, after the vessel requested a medical evacuation earlier in the day.

A midwife and a medical team examined the pregnant woman on the Ocean Viking and determined she had “developed a serious medical complication which could put her and the baby at risk,” Doctors Without Borders Project Coordinator Erkinalp Kesikli said.

The Norwegian-flagged ship also appealed to Malta and Italy for a safe place of disembarkation for the 82 other migrants on board, but did not receive an immediate reply Wednesday.