1,200 boat migrants arrive on Italy's Lampedusa, two dead

Rome [Italy], April 25: More than 1,200 migrants have reached the Italian Mediterranean island of Lampedusa in just 24 hours, the coastguard reported on Monday. A migrant boat sank in international waters near the island during the night. A fishing boat rescued 34 people and recovered one body. The rescued people were taken on board a patrol boat of the Italian coastguard and brought to Lampedusa. The survivors said that about 20 people were still missing. A second boat sank later just off the coast of Lampedusa. 42were reportedly rescued by the coastguard, including5 women and 3 minors. Three people were still missing. The rescued people are from Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone and South Sudan. In a third shipwreck, everyone was saved, but one body was recovered.The migrants were taken to Lampedusa's initialcamp. It has space for around 400 people but is overcrowded due to previous arrivals. More than 1,200 boat migrants have arrived in Lampedusa since Sunday with 35 boats, the coastguard said. Lampedusa is located between Sicily and North Africa, around 190 kilometres from the Tunisian coastal city of Sfax.(DPA)
Source: Qatar Tribune