(Reuters) — Some 111 migrants were rescued from a deflating rubber dinghy in the Mediterranean on Saturday (August 22), the Italian coast guard said, releasing video footage of the rescue operations.
The footage released by the coast guard on Sunday (August 23) showed the migrants waving as coast guard officers approached them. Some migrants could be seen holding up the deflated front of their rubber dinghy while officers signalled to the those waving to stay down.
According to the coast guard the group included 57 men and 54 women. The migrants were transferred onto a coast guard vessel and taken to port on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa where they arrived after night fall on Saturday.
The Italian coast guard, navy and other vessels on Saturday carried out 22 rescue operations in the Mediterranean.
Europe is struggling to cope with a record influx of refugees as migrants flee war in Middle Eastern countries such as Syria.
The Mediterranean has become the world’s most deadly crossing point for migrants. More than 2,300 people have died this year in attempts to reach Europe by boat, according to the International Organisation for Migration.