24 November 2014
Italy’s coastguard said it has rescued more than 600 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea between Sicily and North Africa at the weekend and started a search for one man feared drowned during the passage.
Further east, 270 Syrian refugees were rescued off the north of Cyprus overnight when their ship’s engine broke down, the Kibris Postasi website in Nicosia reported.
The Italian coastguard said it picked up 520 migrants in the Strait of Sicily between Thursday night and Friday, before heading to a point 60 miles north of the Libyan capital Tripoli to assist a merchant ship that had picked up 93 migrants.
A ship carrying a Singaporean flag picked up a further 78 migrants, the coast guard said. It was not immediately clear where these migrants came from.
The ship carrying Syrian refugees was drifting for several hours before it was towed to the north of Cyprus and the refugees, including 30 children, were brought to an indoor sports stadium, Kibris Postasi reported.
