Italy Coast Guard-Migrants rescue

The Italian Coast Guard says in a statement on Thursday that it had rescued 994 migrants from two vessels in waters off the island of Sicily in the space of 24 hours.

The first rescue took place on, May 24, 29 kilometers off the coast of Sicily, when Coast Guard vessel Nave Dicotti intercepted a fishing vessel carrying 423 migrants. Overnight into Thursday, the Coast Guard then said another vessel carrying 671 migrants had been spotted by the Nave Dicotti.

The transfer of those migrants onto Coast Guard vessels had been completed on Thursday morning. All the rescued migrants had been transferred to designated ports.