Italian coast guard rescues about 200 Syrian migrants

Italy’s coast guard says it has rescued 194 Syrian migrants, including women and children, who were on a boat from Turkey to Italy when they faced trouble.

The migrants, including 23 women, two of whom were pregnant, and 38 children, were rescued Friday as their vessel was at risk of sinking, the Italian coast guard said on Saturday.

The 30-meter merchant vessel was reportedly spotted around 240 kilometers from the Italian shore.

The coast guard said a vessel from the European Union’s sea border patrol mission, known as Triton, also took part in the rescue operation.

Triton was launched by the EU’s border agency, Frontex, on November 1 last year.

As a major European gateway, Italy is a destination for large numbers of migrants, mainly from Africa. Since 2013, migrants arriving in Italy by sea have tripled.

Over the past weeks, Italian officials had to intervene about a dozen times to rescue migrants from overloaded merchant ships of dubious seaworthiness.

The Italian government has launched a major operation called “Mare Nostrum,” mobilizing warships, amphibious vessels and aircraft to try and prevent further tragedies like the two shipwrecks in October in which more than 400 immigrants died.