Audio By Carbonatix
Three boats with about 700 African migrants onboard have been intercepted off Lampedusa island in southern Italy, local reports said on Thursday.
The boats were sighted 315 km from the Italian coast by a police patrol aircraft which was flying over the area, according to Adnkronos news agency.
A navy ship of the Italian government’s “Mare Nostrum (Our Sea)” search-and-rescue mission was on the way to the signaled waters, Adnkronos added.
A day earlier, two other navy ships carrying over 2,000 migrants arrived at the southern ports of Reggio Calabria and Trapani, the latest of a string of arrivals.
The migration inflow has been increasing in recent times towards Italy, which is seen as one of the main gates to get into Europe.
Some 66,000 people have reached Italy by sea between January and June, according to Italian Interior Ministry and United Nations estimates.
Latest Stories
-
Young Positivist Writes : My Experience with GCLP
1 hour -
Strong Day 1 turnout sets tone for Day 2 of Republic Bank-JoyNews Habitat Fair Clinic
2 hours -
Ghana Army warns new soldiers against social media misuse, uniform abuse
2 hours -
AMA calls for science-led action to tackle environmental health risks in Accra
2 hours -
NPP Canada Organizer BigMo urges Diaspora to support Kodua Frimpong
3 hours -
He entered at eight. He is now 16: Ghana’s children growing up in prayer camps
6 hours -
‘Development must not always begin from Accra’ — Anwelle Foundation launched in Jirapa
6 hours -
PKO trio eye victories at Odwira Festival
8 hours -
346 Ghana Navy recruits pass out after 26 weeks of intensive training
9 hours -
Newsfile to discuss EOCO-MP arrest, drug trafficking, speech arrests and $235m water debt
9 hours -
JoyNews gets results as listeners raise GH¢40,000 to help 17-year-old student with cerebral palsy attend SHS
10 hours -
Vice President calls for stronger local pharmaceutical production to reduce medicine imports
10 hours -
The brewing tension at KNUST; Beware the Ides of October….
10 hours -
Health Ministry moves to integrate traditional medicine into mainstream healthcare
10 hours -
550 pupils in Kintampo South get educational lifeline as ‘Seeds of Hope’ reaches farming communities
11 hours