Migrants who issued an SOS call from a boat in the Sicily Channel late yesterday afternoon were using the same satellite phone which was used when another boat tried to make the crossing from Libya on June 6, the Italian authorities have established.

The Italian media said the call yesterday was made to migrants resident in Sicily. Italian patrol boats and a helicopter found no trace of the boat.

Later, sources quoting Rome rescue coordination centre said the call could have been a false alarm.

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