Police arrested an alleged migrant
trafficker who was at the helm of a dinghy carrying 111 people
rescued in the Strait of Sicily on Thursday, when over 1,500
asylum seekers arrived in Italy.
Mamadouo Lo, 26, from Senegal, was apprehended on arriving
in the Sicilian port of Pozzallo.
His arrest took to 67 the number of presumed traffickers
arrested by local police since the start of this year.
A man with a gunshot wound produced during an armed robbery
a few days before departure was among the passengers.
He was taken to hospital for treatment and recovery is
expected to take 15 days.
The migrants allegedly paid 500 dollars per person for the
passage.
Also on Thursday, 645 migrants reportedly from Syria,
Nigeria, Sudan and Egypt arrived in the port of Palermo after
being rescued in various operations off the coast of Libya.
They included 90 women and 89 minors.
Separately, 904 migrants including 147 women and 60 minors
arrived in the port of Reggio Calabria on Thursday.
Their condition was said to be good.
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