More Than 800 Migrants Rescued at Sea Head to Italy
Voice of America
ROME - Two Italian ports faced an influx of hundreds of migrants on Saturday, as a charity ship sailed toward a Sicilian port with 236 people rescued in the Mediterranean from traffickers' boats, while Italian coast guard and border police brought 532 others to a tiny island.
The maritime rescue group SOS Mediterranee said a ship it operates, Ocean Viking, pulled the migrants to safety four days ago from two rubber dinghies. Upon instructions from Italian authorities, the Ocean Viking was sailing to Augusta, Sicily, with its passengers, 119 of whom were reported to be unaccompanied minors. SOS Mediterranee said some passengers told rescuers they had been beaten by smugglers based in Libya and forced to embark on the unseaworthy dinghies despite high waves. On Italy's southern island of Lampedusa, which is closer to North Africa than to the Italian mainland, Mayor Salvatore Martello said migrants from four boats that needed rescuing stepped ashore overnight. They were brought to safety by Italian coast guard and customs police boats.
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