Malta is being accused of refusing help to a boat of migrants on which there were disabled children, a report on the EUObserver says.

Maltese authorities appeared to ignore repeated requests to help migrants had spent two days at sea after leaving from Zuwara, a port city in Libya, the report, written by a journalist on board a rescue ship, adds.

“On the bridge, SOS Mediterranee's rescue coordinator Luisa Albera had made multiple telephone calls to Malta,” the report says.

The migrants were eventually rescued by the Ocean Viking search and rescue boat.

Among them was a small, frail and dehydrated crippled boy, the report says.

The Libyans had intercepted them around 10 nautical miles inside Malta's search-and-rescue zone. Then they let them go, the report adds.

Once the rescue mission had been completed, “the Libyans then moved in and lit the eight metre wooden vessel on fire.”

Thirty people had been saved, including five adult women and 15 children. All but the one Egyptian in the group are Libyan.

The full report may be found here