(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 10 - The migrant hotspot on Lampedusa.was overwhelmed on Monday after the arrival of 20 boats carrying a total of 2,128 people to the Italian island in 24 hours.
Four of those boats, carrying 635 asylum seekers, arrived overnight.
A port authority vessel assisted a fishing boat in difficulty with 352 people of various nationalities on board some nine miles from the coast shortly before midnight.
Another vessel took on 87 people from a boat that was abandoned 15 miles from the shore.
At 3:20 101 migrants, including 10 women and three children, landed after being rescued 12 miles form the coast..
Then another 95 asylum seekers, including three women and five children, arrived. (ANSA).
Lampedusa migrant centre overwhelmed by wave of arrivals
Over 2,000 asylum seekers landed in 24 hours