European charity ship rescues 135 migrants, including eight children, off Malta

A rescue worker on the SOS Mediteranee’s humanitarian ship Ocean Viking attends to a rescued migrant (Johanna de Tessieres/SOS Mediteranee via AP)

The crew of the European charity ship Ocean Viking said on Friday they had rescued another 135 migrants, including a pregnant woman and eight children, from a double-decker boat in Maltese search-and-rescue waters.

In total, the vessel operated by the humanitarian group SOS Mediterranee was carrying 359 shipwreck survivors, it said, adding the ship had been assigned to the distant port at Ancona, in Italy’s central Marche region.