Rome, Aug. 24 -- Three people died and 65 others were rescued from an overcrowded and flooded rubber boat in the Central Mediterranean, the organisation RESQSHIP said in a statement on Saturday.

The sailing vessel NADIR, operated by RESQSHIP, carried out the rescue after Alarm Phone alerted authorities to the distress case on Friday evening. Around 1 am (local time), the vessel located the boat, which had departed from Zuwara, Libya, the previous day. Survivors said the boat began taking on water just hours after departure, forcing passengers to sit knee-deep in seawater as waves up to 1.5 meters washed over the vessel.

During the evacuation, survivors discovered the bodies of three sisters aged 9, 11 and 17, who had drowned inside the ...