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Seventy-two Somali migrants arrive in Lampedusa
Jan 13, 2012, 16:20 GMT
Rome - A boat carrying 72 people, who identified themselves as Somali nationals, arrived Friday on the Italian island of Lampedusa from Libya.
The arrival of the group, which included 18 women, was the first by African migrants on the tiny Italian island in more than two months, the ANSA news agency reported.
The migrants' vessel was intercepted by an Italian coast guard patrol boat some 40 nautical miles south of Lampedusa, which lies between Italy and Libya.
The migrants appeared to be in good health and were to be transferred to a migrant reception centre in Sicily on Saturday, the report said.
Last year, Lampedusa often experienced severe overcrowding in the wake of the uprisings in Tunisia and Libya, which triggered an exodus of tens of thousands of migrants across the Mediterranean.
In April, more than 250 migrants died in a shipwreck off Lampedusa.
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