A COALITION of activist groups saved the lives of 290 people in the central Mediterranean at the weekend.

On Saturday morning, the Geo Barents, a refugee rescue ship operated by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), located a rubber boat in distress carrying 81 people in international waters off Libya.

The crew was alerted to the boat by the activist-run distress hotline organisation Alarm Phone. The Colibri 2, a reconnaissance plane operated by French charity Pilotes Volontaires, helped the crew find the boat.