79 migrants land on Lampedusa

(ANSA) - ROME, AUG 12 - A reported 79 migrants landed on Lampedusa in the night between Sunday and Monday after two migrant boats were rescued by Italian security officials.
    On Sunday, a total of 421 people reached the Sicilian island in 12 separate landings.
    The first boat rescued overnight by finance police was carrying 60 passengers from Bangladesh, Egypt, Pakistan and Syria.
    The passengers said their boat had departed from Karabolli, in Libya, and that they had paid between 4 and 7,000 dollars for the crossing.
    The other migrant boat carried 19 people who had departed from Sabratha, Libya.
    The migrants from Bangladesh told rescuers they had paid up to 9,000 dollars for the trip.
    The new arrivals were all taken to the island's hotspot which is currently hosting 524 people.
    The prefecture of Agrigento, Sicily, has ordered the transfer of 280 people hosted at the local hotspot who will be taken by ferry to the Sicilian city of Porto Empedocle, which they are expected to reach on Monday evening. (ANSA).