BEIRUT: A group of 60 migrants picked up by a cargo ship from a crippled fishing boat in the central Mediterranean has safely reached the island of Crete hours after a severely ill child on the freighter died while being airlifted to Greece, Greek authorities said on Wednesday.

The Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian migrants had reportedly been stranded for days without provisions on a leaking fishing boat near Malta, after trying to sail from Lebanon to Italy about 10 days ago.

Wadi Al-Karnak, a ship belonging to Egypt’s Ministry of Transport, earlier, helped the passengers of the boat off the coast of Malta.

The holding company for maritime and land transport, affiliated with Egypt’s Ministry of Transportation, said: “The ship’s course was changed as it traveled 40 nautical miles, and it sailed for five hours toward the boat in distress. Passengers were given food, water and medicine. The boat was hooked to the hull of the vessel.

“The 60 passengers, including 24 men, 12 women, four children and four infants, were identified as Syrians, Lebanese, and Palestinians, who illegally traveled from Lebanon to a European port. Some of the passengers were extremely fatigued as they stayed in the boat for a week.”

On Tuesday, a Greek navy helicopter had airlifted a four-year-old girl with health problems and her mother off the BBC Pearl, but the child was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital on Crete.

A relative of one of the passengers, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, claimed the migrants were lost at sea, as their smuggler did not provide them with a navigation system, compass, or maps on the leaking, overcrowded boat.

The migrants also claimed that three children died due to dehydration before the group was rescued.