Almost 500 migrants rescued in 24 hours off Italian coast
ROME | Thu Apr 11, 2013 9:46am EDT
(Reuters) - The Italian coastguard rescued almost 500 migrants crammed into
five small inflatable boats off the Sicilian coast in the Mediterranean Sea
after receiving distress calls overnight, the coastguard said on Thursday.
Coastguard spokesman Marco di Milla said the migrants, mostly from
sub-Saharan Africa, included some pregnant women and several people in need
of hospital treatment.
"They were in inflatable boats of a maximum of 10 meters long, which can
carry about 10 people safely. Instead, these boats were carrying up to 100
people," di Milla told Reuters. He said the boats had likely started their
journey in the North African state of Libya.
Most of the migrants were taken to Lampedusa, a tiny island south of Sicily
that receives thousands of immigrants each year.
Improved spring weather conditions have increased the numbers trying to make
the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean, but thousands have died
due to shipwrecks, harsh conditions and a lack of food and water.
An estimated 1,500 migrants lost their lives in the Mediterranean in 2011,
many of them trying to escape the turmoil caused by the Arab Spring
uprisings in North Africa, according to Human Rights Watch. It estimated the
death toll in 2012 at more than 300.
(Reporting by Naomi O'Leary; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
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Received on Thu Apr 11 2013 - 14:25:22 EDT
