Italy rescues 1,800 migrants over weekend, five bodies recovered
Mon Jul 21, 2014 11:31am GMT
ROME, July 21 (Reuters) - Italy's navy said it rescued nearly 1,800 migrants
in overcrowded boats in the Mediterranean over the weekend, and a merchant
ship recovered five bodies from a sinking rubber raft off the coast of
Libya.
Calmer summer seas have led to a surge in people trying to reach Italy from
North Africa. Italy has picked up more than 70,000 migrants so far this year
in its search-and-rescue mission, called "Mare Nostrum" or "Our Sea".
The number of dead is also rising. At the start of July, the UNHCR estimated
500 migrants had died in the Mediterranean in the past six months, compared
to 700 during the whole of last year.
A merchant ship rescued 61 migrants and collected five bodies from a sinking
rubber raft late on Sunday after its position was signalled by the navy,
said the force. Survivors said 15 others probably drowned.
Italy is struggling to keep up with the increase in migrant boats this year
and has asked the European Union for more help in rescuing and housing them.
The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said Maltese authorities on Saturday recovered
the bodies of 29 people believed to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning
in the hold of a boat.
On Friday, as many as 40 people went missing after a migrant boat capsized
near the Libyan coast, according to media reports that the Italian navy
could not confirm. A merchant ship recovered hundreds of survivors.
Most migrants have fled Syria's civil war and Eritrea's harsh military
service, according to the UNHCR. Many of them set off for their journey to
Europe from the coast of strife-torn Libya.
Italy's navy has been patrolling the waters between Africa and Sicily since
October, when 366 people drowned after their boat capsized just a mile from
the Italian coast. (Reporting by Steve Scherer)