Open Arms rescues 69 more migrants

(ANSA) - Rome, August 2 - The Open Arms NGO said Friday that one its ships saved 69 people in the Mediterranean overnight and it called for the vessel to be assigned a port of safety. It said that, after rescuing 55 people in Thursday, its vessel now has 124 people in board.
    The NGO said via Twitter that the people it picked up had "clear signs of the torture they suffered in Libya".
    It said the people on board included two children and two pregnant women, one of whom was nine months in and having contractions.
    Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has spearheaded the government tough stance of refusing access to Italy's ports to NGO-run ships that rescue migrants in the Mediterranean. This has led to a series of standoffs with vessels that have sought to defy this policy.
    This week Salvini and other ministers signed an order banning another NGO rescue ship, Alan Kurdi, from entering Italian waters after picking up 40 migrants off Libya on Wednesday.