(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 23 - A joint operation involving the
Italian Coast Guard and an NGO-run search-and-rescue ship made
it possible to rescue 59 people on a boat in distress some 43
miles south of Lampedusa, the NGO, Mediterranea Saving Humans,
said on Saturday.
It said its Mare Jonio ship stabilized the overcrowded boat,
handed out life jackets and helped transfer migrants to an
Italian Coast Guard patrol boat.
Mediterranea said the rescued people included two pregnant
women.
Photo: an archive image of a migrant-boat rescue.
(see related story). (ANSA).
Dozens rescued in joint Coast Guard-NGO ship operation
Migrant boat was in distress close to Lampedusa