Vessel Of Italy's Coast Guard To Deliver Bodies Of 8 Migrants To Lampedusa - Reports

ROME (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd February, 2023) Bodies of eight migrants, recovered by a vessel of the Italian Coast Guard during a rescue operation in the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday, will be delivered to Italy's Lampedusa island, local media reported.

According to the RaiNews24 broadcaster, the coast guard spotted a boat in distress near Malta, which was carrying more than 40 illegal migrants from North African countries.

According to Sicilian news portal Agrigento Notizie, the bodies of eight migrants, including three women, one of them pregnant, were brought aboard the Italian ship.

A few hours before the operation, vessels of the Guardia di Finanza, Italy's enforcement agency under the authority of the Finance Ministry, and coast guard rescued another 75 Africans, including 14 women, who were trying to make it to the Italian coast in two boats.

According to the latest data from Italy's Interior Ministry, 4,953 illegal migrants arrived in the country by sea from January 1 to February 2, a five-fold increase in arrivals compared to the same period in 2021 and almost twice as high compared to January 2022. A total of over 105.000 migrants arrived in Italy by the sea in 2022.