MADRID, July 19 (Xinhua) -- A Spanish aid group accused the Libyan coastguard of abandoning three migrants in the Mediterranean, including a woman and a kid who died on Tuesday.
Proactiva Open Arms, a Spanish NGO, said they found a woman alive and another dead, together with a kid, after the Libyan coastguard intercepted a boat with 160 people heading for Europe.
It accused both a merchant ship sailing in international waters and the Libyan coastguard of abandoning these three people.
Oscar Camps, the head of Proactiva Open Arms, said the three migrants had refused to board Libyan vessels and were abandoned in the sea after the coastguard destroyed their boat.
Libyan coastguard spokesman Ayoub Gassim responded that the coastguard members carried out rescues "in accordance with international standards in saving lives at sea."
"All disasters happening in the sea are caused by human traffickers who are only interested in profit and the presence of such irresponsible, non-governmental groups in the region," said Gassim.
According to the International Organization for Migration, the overall number of migrants and refugees who have entered Europe by sea this year is 50,872, and 1,443 people have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean so far this year.
