(3 Feb 2017) The number of migrants risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean sea surged on Friday as calm waters encouraged smugglers who had waited days for bad weather to clear, an NGO operating in the area said.
Doctors Without Borders said in a tweet that their rescue boat north of the Libyan coast was operating over capacity and holding 720 migrants after five rescues.
The Aquarius was receiving assistance from a another vessel operated by Proactiva Open Arms, a Spanish NGO, that rescued 222 migrants, including one baby and two children, from two boats on Friday.
There were more boats in the sea, said the Proactiva Open Arms spokeswoman Laura Lanuza.
The migrants, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, were being transferred to an Italian port in Sicily, Lanuza said.
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
