At least 10 persons drowned off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa early Saturday when a small boat crowded with over 100 refugees sank while a naval rescue vessel was approaching the boat. According to the Italian authorities, 70 people had been rescued by Italian navy vessels and the number of missing was still unclear. There were reportedly 120 refugees on the 10-metre-long boat, which had sailed from the coast of Libya. Most of them refugees were reported to be from northern Africa, Somalia and Eritrea, the German news agency "DPA" reported. Italian military helicopters had joined the navy and coast guard vessels, along with commercial ships, in the search for more survivors.
