A total of 787 migrants were rescued from the central Mediterranean from Thursday to Saturday, according to the latest counts by Italian authorities, dpa reported. The Italian Coast Guard said it intercepted 520 people from five different vessels Thursday and Friday in waters where Libya has search-and-rescue responsibilities and later picked up another 78 people who had been rescued by a merchant ship. The migrants - who, according to the ANSA news agency, came from Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Burundi, Senegal and Sudan - arrived in the Sicilian port of Porto Empedocle late Saturday. Six pregnant women and two children were among them. Another merchant ship rescued 93 migrants from a dinghy about 110 kilometres north of the Libyan capital, Tripoli. They were taken to Augusta, another port located in Eastern Sicily. Separately, the Italian Navy said it intervened Saturday to rescue 98 migrants from a dinghy, including nine children.
