(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 9 - Some 885 refugees and migrants arrived
on the southern Sicilian island of Lampedusa on Thursday,
including numerous children and women.
The new arrivals took to over 1,300 the number of
disembarkations on the tiny Mediterranean island in 24 hours,
following the disembarkation of 470 people on Wednesday after
being intercepted by the Italian authorities and accompanied to
port.
The arrivals all reportedly set sail from the Tunisian coastal
town of Sfax.
The disembarked refugees and migrants have been transferred to
the island hotspot in Contrada Imbriacola.
They reportedly come from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Congo,
Gambia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Senegal, Sudan,
Syria and Yemen.
Of the arrivals, 20 had been rescued by the Coast Guard
following a shipwreck in the Italian search and rescue (SAR)
zone off Lampedusa. Rescuers also recovered the body of a young
woman . (ANSA).
885 refugees and migrants arrive on Lampedusa
Over 1,300 people disembarked in 24 hours