(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 11 - A young girl, aged around 11, who was saved off Lampedusa by the NGO-run Trotamar III migrant-rescue sailboat and taken to the Sicilian island early on Wednesday, is believed to be the only survivor of a shipwreck that reportedly occurred three days ago.
    The boat on which she was travelling carried 45 passengers who had departed from Sfax, in Tunisia, rescuers said.
    The girl appears to be the sole survivor of the wreck of the metal boat, which tipped over in heavy seas south of Lampedusa, they explained.
    The young girl was rescued in the Italian SAR operations area south of the Sicilian island.
    The 11-year-old, who is from Sierra Leone, said the vessel sank in a storm.
    The girl told rescuers that two boys next to her had disappeared after the incident.
    "We left Sfax 4 or 5 days ago.
    "There were 45 of us.
    "Three days ago, rain, wind and the boat sank.
    "We all ended up in the sea.
    "Two boys remained next to me, then after 2 days I no longer saw them, the sea took them away", she said.
    The head of Lampedusa's health care centre, Doctor Francesco D'Arca, told ANSA that he had spoken with her and that she was calm.
    "He told some doctors at the healthcare centre that her brother was travelling with her on the boat.
    "However, he appears to be missing together with the other migrants", he said.
    The doctor said the girl was generally in good health and that she had been taken to Lampedusa's migrant hotspot after meeting with a psychologist.
    The girl was rescued at sea by the six crew members of the sailboat operated by German NGO CompassCollective, who were in the area for another operation, at 3:20 am on Wednesday.
    Rescuers said the young girl was wearing a life vest and was holding on to makeshift life buoys made out of tires.
    "It was a miracle that we heard the girl's voice in high seas with our engine on.
    "Of course, we searched for more people.
    "But after a storm that lasted for days, with over 23 knots and high waves there was no hope", said the boat's skipper Matthias Wiedenlübbert.
    Crew members said the young girl had survived for three days at sea thanks to the two makeshift life buoys and a life vest.
    They said the girl told them that she had spoken with two other fellow passengers in the water but that they had disappeared two days ago.
    "The girl had no water or food with her and she was suffering from hypothermia but was reactive and alert", they said.
    The mayor of Lampedusa and Linosa, Filippo Mannino, said operators at the hotspot had told him that she had fallen asleep after reaching the facility.
    Mannino said she would be aided by a team of psychologists at the hotspot but would be transferred, to get specific psychological aid, with the first flight operated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) "which will be planned by the prefecture of Agrigento, probably on Friday".
    In particular, she will meet with psychologists as well as with cultural mediators in an attempt to determine exactly when the shipwreck occurred and how it happened, local authorities said.
    Overall, 356 migrants landed on the Sicilian island overnight before the arrival of the young girl rescued by the Trotamar III.
    They were travelling on five boats, including one which was carrying 111 passengers who were rescued by port authorities, finance police and Frontex officials.
    The first boat carried 111 people who hailed from Egypt, Eritrea, Pakistan, Syria, Sudan and Somalia, including 13 women and 11 minors.
    The others carried a minimum of 45 and a maximum of 87 passengers from Bangladesh, Syria, Morocco, Sudan and Iran.
    All passengers said they had departed from Libya.
    Meanwhile, the founder of the NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans, Luca Casarini, said in a note on Wednesday that the migrant-rescue organization feared that three additional shipwrecks could have occurred in stormy seas over the past few days along the route connecting Tunisia's coast and Lampedusa.
    "Since December 2, (migrant rescue alert service) Alarm Phone has reported first the disappearance of two boats that had respectively departed with 45 people on board on November 27 and with 75 people on board on November 30 from Tunisia; then on December 4, it said another boat with an additional 45 people on board had been missing since November 30", the organization said, urging authorities in Tunisia, Malta and Italy to carry out search operations to find possible survivors. (ANSA).