112 Africa migrants dock at Porto Empedocle

(ANSA) - Palermo, July 30 - A Liberian boat carrying 112 migrants from sub-Saharan African was escorted by the Italian Coast Guard Wednesday to Sicily's Porto Empedocle.
    The migrants from the boat Perge were to be transferred to a centre in Trapani, almost 200 km away, rather than the nearby centre in Siculiana which was said to be at capacity with 260 migrants.
    The Liberian boat was intercepted in the Strait of Sicily, the 90-mile-wide strip of sea between Sicily and Tunisia, the northernmost country in Africa.
    According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a total of 67,000 migrants and asylum seekers have reached Italy to date this year, including over 6,500 unaccompanied children.
    Italian Premier Matteo Renzi has pleaded for more help from other European countries in managing the migrants, many of whom are heading for other parts of the continent.