Over 1,000 Migrants Brought Ashore In Italy After Multiple Rescues

Local officials said a further 200 migrants had been picked up off the coast of Sicily and would be ferried to Catania later in the day.

More than 1,000 migrants were brought ashore to southern Italy on Saturday after coastguards launched major rescue operations for three boats struggling in rough seas off Calabria.

One coastguard vessel brought 584 people to the city of Reggio Calabria, while another escorted a packed fishing boat carrying 487 migrants into the port of Crotone, close to the scene of a Feb. 26 shipwreck that killed at least 74 people.

Local officials said a further 200 migrants had been picked up off the coast of Sicily and would be ferried to Catania later in the day.

More than 4,000 people have reached Italy since Wednesday, compared to around 1,300 for the whole of March last year, as the country's conservative government struggles to contain the influx, despite repeated promises to stem the flow.