VIDEO: LE Niamh involved in rescue of record number of migrants

Italy’s coast guard said it co-ordinated the rescue of some 4,400 migrants in a single day, a record-setting number.

Sun, 23 Aug, 2015 - 13:02

Italy’s coast guard said it co-ordinated the rescue of some 4,400 migrants in a single day, a record-setting number.

The coast guard said 22 rescue operations were carried out on Saturday for motorised rubber dinghies and fishing boats, all crammed with migrants desperate to reach Europe’s southern shores.

Italian coast guard, navy and border police boats pitched in, as did Irish and Norwegian naval vessels deployed in a European patrol-and-rescue force.

Boats in distress use satellite phones to call coast guard rescuers or are spotted by patrolling Italian military aircraft.

So far this year, some 110,000 migrants have been rescued off Libya and brought to southern Italian ports.