Italy rescues at least 1,400 migrants in 2 days

About 160,000 migrants landed in Italy in November, and 40,000 in Greece, while thousands more died during their attempt. | Photo: Reuters

In both cases, the boats had been previously abandoned by the crew before heading dangerously to the Italian coast.

A second abandoned ship with some 400 migrants on board was rescued on Italian coasts on Thursday, bringing the total number of migrants rescued to at least 1,400 in two days.

The boat, which was flying a Sierra Leone flag was found without crew as it headed toward Puglia in the south-east of Italy.

On Wednesday, another abandoned boat with almost 1,000 migrants – mostly Syrian refugees – arrived in the southern port of Gallipoli, Italy.

The Moldavian cargo ship had also been abandoned by its crew in the Adriatic Sea with 970 migrants on board, the Italian Red Cross told Reuters.

The circumstances of the abandonment are currently being investigated, as the crew, which allegedly left Turkey, abandoned the ship between Albania and Italy, in the canal of Otranto. A Moldavian citizen, allegedly one of the smugglers, have been arrested by the Italian police.

Six Italian coastguards took over the ship on Tuesday, as the ship was about to crash into the Italian coast after the smugglers had put it on automatic pilot before abandoning it.

"It was a race against time,'' coast guard commander Filippo Marini told The Associated Press.

All the 970 migrants were safely rescued, while a pregnant woman went into labor during the operation, AFP reported.

The internal conflicts in Syria and Libya have significantly increased the number of migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean sea on small ships, often headed towards Italy or Greece.

About 160,000 migrants landed in Italy and 40,000 in Greece during the month of November, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency. Thousands more have died attempting to cross the sea.

On Wednesday, about 800 migrants tried to storm the wire-meshed fence marking the border between Spain and Morocco in the city of Medilla, with 50 of them managing to scale the barrier.

A day before, approximately 100 migrants managed to climb the seven-meter high fence to land in Spanish territory.

The Spanish territories of Melilla and Ceuta, which are contested by Morocco, see an influx of African migrants as they are the on the Africa continent.

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