A six-year-old girl is fighting for her life after developing serious health complications from drinking sea water while being severely dehydrated on a sinking boat.

The girl, from Syria, had been evacuated by Malta’s Armed Forces and admitted to Mater Dei Hospital unconscious on Sunday, the Times of Malta reported. She is currently in ITU and remains in a critical condition, reportedly showing no signs of improvement since being admitted.

Her rescue was coordinated by the Italian Coast Guard, who described her as being in a “serious state of dehydration”.

The young girl was so desperate for fresh water that she consumed sea water while crossing the Mediterranean. She is suffering from acute sodium poisoning, besides severe dehydration. She remains unconscious, days later.

The girl was rescued with a woman originally believed to be her mother, but who turned out to be her auntie, along with 28 other asylum seekers, found off the eastern coast of Libya. The other 26 were taken to Sicily.

This is not the only case of a dying little girl around Malta’s seas; just this week, a number of prominent people, including PN MP Mark Anthony Sammut and former President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, criticised the Maltese authorities for their lack of urgency in rescuing four-year-old asylum seeker Loujin, while journalist Peppi Azzopardi has called for a public monument to be erected in the young girl’s honour.