A reported 60 migrants have reached the Sicilian island of Lampedusa after they were rescued by two cutters operated by the EU border agency Frontex. Meanwhile, Italian coast guards recovered seven bodies in the southern Mediterranean believed to be of passengers reported missing in a migrant-boat shipwreck off Libya last week.
Sixty migrants on Sunday (September 8) reached the Sicilian island of Lampedusa after the two boats on which they were traveling were rescued by two cutters operated by EU border agency Frontex.
The first vessel rescued on Sunday carried 22 people from Bangladesh, Syria and Sudan while the second had 38 passengers from Bangladesh, Syria, Morocco and Egypt.
Overall, 134 migrants were reported to have reached the island. They were all taken to the local hotspot which was housing 251 people on Sunday.
Also read: Sea rescue not a pull factor, says Frontex chief
Italian Coast Guard recovers seven bodies
And on the same day, the Italian Coast Guard recovered seven bodies (initial reports said six, ed. note) from waters in the southern Mediterranean. The corpses were in a state of decomposition and have been taken to Lampedusa.
It is thought that the bodies were of some of the 21 people, including three children, reported missing after Wednesday's migrant-boat shipwreck off Libya. Only seven passengers, Syrian nationals, survived the disaster.
Also read: Italian non-assistance likely led to shipwreck, claims NGO