GENEVA, May 5 (Reuters) - A ship carrying 1,138 people evacuated from the besieged Libyan city of Misrata, including dozens of wounded, arrived in rebel-held Benghazi early on Thursday, the International Organisation for Migration said.
The Red Star One defied deadly shell fire to rescue African and Asian migrant workers from Misrata port on Wednesday, but was forced to leave behind hundreds of Libyans desperate to flee the fighting.
"The boat arrived safely this morning in Benghazi," IOM spokeswoman Jemini Pandya told Reuters.
After the chaotic departure, as Libyan civilians tried to board the vessel amid shelling and shooting, the Geneva-based agency initially said some 800 were believed to be on board.
But in all it carried 1,138 passengers, including 827 migrants, mainly from Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as 311 Libyans who climbed on board, the spokeswoman said. Some 33 wounded Libyans and 3 wounded Nigeriens were among them.
The port is a lifeline for Misrata, where food and medical supplies are low and snipers shoot from rooftops. In all about 13,000 people have now been rescued by 13 ships.
Minesweepers from the NATO coalition, whose aircraft have been bombing Libyan government military targets under a United Nations resolution, had been searching the approaches to the harbour since Monday for a drifting Gaddafi forces&${esc.hash}39; mine.
The IOM hoped to carry out a seventh evacuation mission, but this would depend on the security situation, Panyda said.
"We are in discussions on how we can make sure the security conditions are better or are in place before we can carry out another mission," she said. "We want to avoid a situation like the one we just had." (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay)
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