Nearly 700 Mediterranean migrants reach Lampedusa on the night Russia’s top general allegedly knew about the coup – Kremlin denies

Hundreds of boat migrants reached the Italian Mediterranean island of Lampedusa on Thursday. As the Italian news agency Ansa reported in the morning, nearly 700 people arrived on the island.

A total of 14 landings were recorded. The boats arrived at the harbor unassisted or the people had to be rescued from the island. More than 1,200 people had already arrived the day before, bringing nearly 2,000 migrants to Lampedusa since Wednesday.

Ten of last night’s 14 boats departed from the Tunisian coastal town of Sfax, Ansa reported. Another from Kerkna, also in Tunisia, and three others from Libya.

The people have been transferred to a reception center on the island. According to Ansa, the migrant camp, which can accommodate some 400 people, is now overcrowded with more than 2,000 people.

Lampedusa is located between Sicily and North Africa, the island is almost 190 kilometers away from Sfax. Many people try to get to Lampedusa, Malta, Sicily or the Italian mainland by boat from Tunisia and Libya via the Central Mediterranean.

The Ministry of the Interior in Rome counted more than 61,200 people reaching Italy by boat this year – up from around 27,300 in the same period last year.

When people try to get to Europe via the Mediterranean, devastating boating accidents sometimes happen. About two weeks ago, hundreds of migrants trying to cross from Libya to Italy drowned off the coast of Greece.

(aeg/sda/dpa)