Italy: Coastguard rescue hundreds more migrants in Mediterranean
last update: October 29, 13:08
Pozzallo, 29 Oct. (AKI) - Coastguard intercepted nearly 400 migrants in the Mediterranean over the past 24 hours, authorities in Italy said on Tuesday.
Forty-one African migrants from Ghana and Nigeria including five women were rescued from a packed boat around 75 nautical miles south of the tiny southern Italian island of Lampedusa,.
Over 200 migrants of unspecified nationality were picked up aboard a boat around 80 nautical miles south of Lampedusa, while 133 Syrians and Eritreans were intercepted some 100 nautical miles off the Calabrian coast.
All the migrants were being transferred to Pozzallo, a small coastal town on Sicily's south-eastern tip, aboard an Italian navy ship.
The influx of migrants to southern Europe fleeing conflict and poverty in Africa and the Middle East has continued despite the drownings of over 400 people earlier this month in two shipwrecks off Lampedusa and Malta.
The tragedies prompted Italy to step up its operations to rescue migrants in the Meditterranean and a pledge of "determined action" from European Union leaders at a summit in Brussels last week including boosting border patrols.
http://www.adnkronos.com/IGN/Aki/English/Security/Italy-Coastguard-rescue-hundreds-more-migrants-in-Mediterranean_32795308709.html
Received on Tue Oct 29 2013 - 12:36:26 EDT