African migrants rescued off coast of Italy

ITALIAN coastguards rescued more than 400 migrants off the southern island of Lampedusa yesterday, including a group of about 300 men, women and children crammed into a wooden boat, officials said.

The number of migrants from Africa arriving on Italian shores has spiked in recent weeks, boosted by the balmy summer weather and calmer sea conditions.

Italian coastguards said they first helped those in two rubber dinghies — one carrying 49 people, the other 57 — in the sea off Lampedusa before spotting the boat carrying about 300 people. They included women and children, some suffering from dehydration.

They were taken aboard coastguard vessels which brought them to the island.

The coastguards have also recovered the corpses of seven of as many as 14 migrants spotted floating in Maltese waters by a military aircraft on Tuesday.

Closer to Africa than mainland Italy, Lampedusa is a popular entry point into Europe for thousands of migrants seeking a better life. Many set sail in flimsy, overcrowded boats that capsize before they reach safety.