The Italian coast guard said it had coordinated the rescue of about 4,200 migrants sailing across the Mediterranean Sea on Friday, but also found 17 corpses on several rickety boats.
Distress calls were made from 22 different boats, many off Libya, but also off the southern Italian coast.
The total number of people rescued in 24 hours is one of the highest in recent years, but the coast guard could not confirm if it was a record.
Photo: AP
The busiest days this year have been the rescue of 3,791 migrants on April 12 and 3,690 on May 2.
The 17 bodies were found on three inflatable dinghies, from which more than 300 migrants were rescued alive, the Italian Navy said on Twitter.
The navy’s press office was not immediately able to say how the migrants died.
However, the Italian authorities have in the past spoken of the harsh conditions faced by the migrants at sea, where they have to endure extreme weather changes and are at risk of hunger, thirst and violence on board the often crammed and flimsy vessels.
Friday’s rescue operations were led by the Italian coast guard and included the help of Italian, German and Irish naval ships working under the auspices of the EU’s Frontex border agency.
A similar maritime rescue mission on Thursday saw more than 700 migrants helped to safety off the coast of Sicily after they had set sail from Libya in six boats.
Overall, more than 40,400 boat migrants — many fleeing conflict and poverty in countries such as Syria and Eritrea — have arrived in Italy since the start of the year, similar to the same period last year.
So far this year, about 1,770 migrants have perished on the hazardous journey to Europe, according to the latest International Organization for Migration (IOM) report, which does not include Friday’s rescue, a 30-fold increase over the same period last year.
The huge spike in the number of people trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in recent weeks has been attributed to the worsening security situation in Libya — the staging post for most of the crossings — as well as milder weather.
“It happens a lot in waves; you could have a few days where nothing happens, then there can be a high number of arrivals at the same time,” said Flavio di Giacomo, a spokesman for the IOM in Italy.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique