WORLD NEWS | More than 1,000 refugees arrive safely in Italy from the Mediterranean

Reggio Calabria [Italy]March 11 (ANI): Nearly two weeks after at least 74 people were killed in a shipwreck, more than 1,000 people were taken to Italy after their overcrowded boat encountered problems in the Mediterranean Sea, the Italian coastguard said. The safety of the port, Al Jazeera reported.

A massive rescue operation that began Friday is drawing to a close after three boats were found adrift off the coast of Italy, the Coast Guard said Saturday. One is south of the Calabrian city of Crotone and the other two are near Roccella Ionica.

Read also | Kiska, the last captive orca to die in Canada at the age of 47, investigation is ongoing.

Coast Guard video showed a large fishing boat rocking violently back and forth in rough night-time seas, with dozens of people visible on deck. Other images showed the dinghy approaching another fishing boat full of people, Al Jazeera reported.

The coastguard said the 487 people on board the first boat arrived safely in the port of Crotone at around 02:00 GMT on Saturday morning.

Read also | A Maine college went into lockdown after a shooting was fired in a student housing area during an annual reunion.

Al Jazeera reported that another rescue operation was wrapping up, with 500 people being taken to safety on a coastguard ship. Ansa news agency reported earlier that the ship had docked at the port of Reggio Calabria.

A third boat with 379 people on board was rescued by two Coast Guard patrol boats and the refugees were transferred to a Navy vessel en route to the port of Gusta, Sicily.

The body of a young girl was found on Saturday near the site of the Feb. 26 shipwreck, bringing the death toll from that disaster to 74. Seventy-nine people survived the shipwreck, but about 30 people are still missing and presumed dead.

The United Nations estimates that 300 refugees have died in the central Mediterranean so far this year.

The right-wing government, led by Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, has come under sharp criticism for failing to intervene in time to save the Feb. 26 shipwreck off the coast of Calabria.

Prosecutors are investigating whether Italian authorities should have done more to prevent the disaster, Al Jazeera reported. Meloni rejected the suggestion and wanted to place the blame squarely on the traffickers.

On Thursday, Meloni called a cabinet meeting in Cutro, near the disaster zone, to announce a new decree that includes tougher prison terms for traffickers, but no new measures to help save lives.

Her far-right brother, who won election last year, promised to curb arrivals, but Italy has recently seen a sharp increase in the number of refugees trying to reach its shores through dangerous Mediterranean crossroads.

The Home Office said more than 17,500 people had arrived by sea so far this year – almost triple the number at the same time last year. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)