Italy Rescues Another Abandoned Migrant Ship
As many as 450, including women and children, on board. Ship being taken to Italian port. A ship carrying hundreds of migrants has been abandoned by its crew in rough seas in the Mediterranean off Italy's south coast in the second such incident in three days, the Italian coastguard said on Friday. Coastguards managed to take control of the vessel, the Sierra Leone-flagged Ezadeen, after landing on it by helicopter, a statement said. Facing difficult weather conditions, they are trying to take the vessel to an Italian port. The cargo ship had been drifting powerless after running out of fuel about 40 miles from Italy's southern coast with as many as 450 people onboard. The ship was built almost 50 years ago to carry livestock, a Website tracking maritime movements said.
Italy Illegal Immigrant Ship Sinking Update
Italian divers have recovered more bodies from the wreck of a people smugglers' ship that sank off the tiny island of Lampedusa, raising the death toll to 275, while prosecutors have detained a man suspected of being the ship's captain, reports Fox News. Fox News citing Coast Guard Commander Filippo Marini reported that he search would continue as long as weather allows. Just 155 migrants, most if not all from Eritrea, survived last Thursday's shipwreck. Survivors said there were some 500 people on board when the ship capsized and sank in sight of land. Tens of thousands of migrants from Africa and the Middle East try to cross the Mediterranean Sea each year, seeking a better life in Europe, but the journey is fraught with danger. Source: Fox News
