On the morning of 6 September 2012, around 130 people left from the beach of Sidi Mansour in Sfax aboard a 10 meter-long wooden boat directed towards Southern Italy. According to press reports, a patrol ship of the Tunisian Maritime Guard crossed the path of the migrants' boat in Tunisian waters and followed it for a short time. The Maritime Guard warned the migrants that the ship was overloaded and about to encounter an upcoming thunderstorm, but they let them continue, alerting their Italian counterparts. As of 06.00 PM (Italian time) of the same day, the migrants sent several SOS by mobile phone, alerting the Italian Coast Guards that their boat was taking in water near Lampione, a tiny island just 17 KM West of Lampedusa. As the water rose, the migrants started jumping into the sea, attempting to swim to the small deserted island. According to the press reports, rescue operations started immediately after the migrants' call for help was received but it was not until 02.00 AM of the following day that a German NATO ship which had offered help in the rescue operations found the first two persons at sea. Most of the fifty-six survivors were able to swim to Lampione but were only located and rescued shortly before 04.00 AM. Nine bodies were recovered from the water during the next days and weeks. The survivors estimated that over 70 fellow travelers died, including women and at least one child. Until today, it has been impossible to understand why it took almost 10 hours to locate the shipwrecked despite the notification by the Tunisian Maritime Guard to their Italian counterparts and the SOS calls sent by the migrants themselves.