Nearly 800 people have been rescued from
boats in distress in the Mediterranean Sea in
the last 48 hours, Italian and Libyan officials
said.
The Italian coastguard said on Saturday that it
rescued at least 520 people from five boats in
Libyan waters late on Thursday, in response to
distress signals from the boats headed towards
Sicily.
An additional 171 people were also rescued
during the overnight mission in the waters north
of Tripoli.
The Italian navy’s response comes a day after
Libya’s navy announced it rescued 105
migrants from a boat that broke down off the
coast of Garabulli, 50km east of the capital.
This brings the total number of reported
rescues over the weekend to 796 people. There
were no details on their nationalities.
Greek port authorities also said that they
rescued 16 people when a boat carrying mostly
Syrian refugees capsized off Mytilene.
In 2013, almost 8,000 people arrived on
European shores in the first six months, and
35,000 in the second half of the year. This year,
at least 65,000 people took the risk in the first
half of the year, and more than 150,000 people
have landed since.
The migrants making the perilious journey
usually hail from poor or conflict-ridden
countries in Africa, the Middle East and South
Asia.


http://www.punchng.com/news/800-migrants-rescued-in-mediterranean-sea/