Italy rescues more than 1,000 migrants at sea; 10 perish

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By FRANCES D'EMILIO

ROME (AP) — In dramatic sea rescues north of Libya, a flotilla of ships saved more than 1,000 migrants and refugees, while 10 migrants perished in the southern Mediterranean, Italian officials said Wednesday.

Rescue vessels, including from Italy's coast guard and navy, and three cargo ships saved 941 people in seven separate operations that began Tuesday, Italy's coast guard said. On Wednesday, the coast guard and two cargo ships rescued 94 migrants whose motorized dinghy was in distress 40 miles (65 kms) north of Libya, the coast guard said.

Survivors were ferried to southern Italian ports. The migrants rescued Tuesday had been aboard five motorized dinghies and two larger vessels. One of the larger boats capsized, and 10 bodies were spotted or plucked from the sea.

For months now, hundreds — sometimes thousands — of migrants fleeing conflicts or poverty have been reaching Italy practically weekly on smugglers' boats setting sail from Libya.

FULL story at link.



Rescued migrants wait to disembark from an Italian Coast Guard vessel in Porto Empedocle, Sicily, southern Italy, Wednesday, March 4, 2015. In a dramatic sea rescue north of Libya, a flotilla of rescue ships saved nearly 1,000 migrants and refugees, while 10 migrants perished in the southern Mediterranean, Italian officials said Wednesday. The rescue vessels, including from Italy's coast guard and navy, and three cargo ships, saved 941 people in seven separate operations that began Tuesday, Italy's coast guard said. The survivors were being ferried to southern Italian ports. The migrants had been aboard five motorized dinghies and two larger vessels. One of the larger boats capsized, and 10 bodies were spotted or plucked from the sea. According to Interior Ministry figures, 7,882 migrants arrived on Italian coasts in the first two months of this year, compared to 5,506 in that period in 2014. The coast guard said the migrants saved in the latest rescues claimed to be Syrians, Palestinians, Libyans, Tunisians or from sub-Saharan Africa. (AP Photo/Francesco Malavolta)


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150304/eu--italy-migrants_rescued-95f0876f53.html

[jwirr]

1. That is good.

[Skittles]

2. I hope they get more help

it has to be so bad for them to be willing to take such risks

[Marrah_G]

3. The Vice.com channel on youtube has a whole series on this issue

It is worth watching

[Nihil]

4. Well done for saving them. Step 2 was a fail though ...

> The survivors were being ferried to southern Italian ports.

... which is exactly where they wanted to get to in the first place ...



Yes, do the humanitarian thing and save the people in the first place
but then drop them back in Libya rather than ferrying them across the Med.

Otherwise, you're just providing the illegal immigration route that they
wanted but in a far safer boat ...

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

5. And how many future or present terrorists are among them?

I wouldn't put it past Al-Qaeda or ISIS to plant several hundred people on those boats. Send them back to the ME. Hopefully some country will take them.