Over 1,200 migrants reach Italy by boat at weekend

More than 1,200 migrants reached Italy over the weekend after attempting the perilous sea passage from Africa in flimsy vessels, the Italian coast guard said yesterday.

The coast guard said it had rescued most of the migrants at sea after intercepting nearly 20 boats and was still searching for others but it could not confirm reports that up to 10 people had died during the attempted crossing.

Italian media reported that 95 immigrants were saved from a large raft. The survivors told of as many as 10 who had died after a Tunisian fishing boat cut loose the tuna cages it was dragging and that several immigrants were clinging onto.

“We do not have a confirmation of this,” a coast guard spokeswoman said. “These are rumours from people we rescued but we found no bodies.”

Italy’s Foreign Ministry said it had not heard of the incident, which reportedly took place in international waters.