Reply #18: Migrant ship runs aground near Italian port

[pinboy3niner]

Source: Al Jazeera

Incident comes a day after another such boat with 600 men, women and children sunk off the coast of Tripoli.

Last Modified: 08 May 2011 05:32



A boat carrying 300 African migrants ran aground near an Italian port, forcing many of those on board including women and children to jump into the sea, Italian news agency ANSA reported.

The coastguard launched a rescue operation on Sunday and have already plucked dozens of people from the water after the boat hit rocks on the approach to the island of Lampedusa in southern Italy, the report said, citing officials.

The boat had apparently been headed for Malta but was escorted by the Maltese coastguard towards Lampedusa, the officials were quoted as saying.

The incident comes a day after a migrant boat laden with 600 men, women and children - mostly African refugees - sunk off the coast of Tripoli.

Al Jazeera's Karl Stagno-Navarra, reporting from the nearby island of Malta, said that most of those on the boat were feared dead. He said that a rescue operation was under way and a few bodies had been recovered.

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http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/05/20115845455723288.html