PMore than 800 people disembarked in 48 hours over the past weekend, aboard a dozen boats, ANSA said, noting that the Lampedusa reception center, with a capacity of 250 places, quickly found itself overloaded and several transfer operations had to be carried out.
The Agrigento prefecture transferred 127 people by ferry to Porto Empedocle in Sicily on Sunday, the agency said, adding that another 104 migrants were transferred to Porto Empedocle on Monday.
More than 210 people were rescued over the weekend by the Sea Watch 3, during five rescue operations, in addition to a hundred people rescued by the Geo Barents.
Since the beginning of the year, nearly 4,000 migrants have been intercepted at sea and returned to Libya while 417 have perished in the central Mediterranean, according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Last year, at least 1,553 people drowned while trying to reach European shores, according to the same source.
(With MAP)