Porto Empedocle (Hafen)

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Italy picks up 700 boat migrants, says rescue operations ongoing

April 12 (Reuters) - Italian ships have picked up almost 700 migrants in seven inflatable boats and further rescue operations are underway as calm seas favoured departures from Libya for the Italian coast, the coast guard said on Sunday. Italian navy and coast guard vessels and one merchant ship rescued the migrants from dangerously overcrowded boats on Saturday, a coast guard spokesman said, adding that other boats had been identified on Sunday and operations continued. On Friday, around 1,000 migrants were rescued, with more than 500 reaching Porto Empedocle in Sicily on Sunday. Most of the migrants who disembarked were Eritrean and Somali, said a port official. There were dozens of women among them wearing colourful headscarves, and they brought several children with them. Many of the migrants were barefoot. Another 600 migrants were expected to arrive in the port of Reggio Calabria later on April 12.