The Sea-Watch 3 rescue ship helped more than 400 migrants in four different rescue operations carried out on Saturday (July 23) in the Central Mediterranean.
The migrants were on board overcrowded boats in distress when reconnaissance aircraft Seabird located them and communicated their position to the rescue ship run by German charity Sea-Watch.
Scorching heat complicated the conditions of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, often without being able to drink and without being able to find shelter from the sun.
According to Sea-Watch, arrivals of migrants to the Italian coasts are eased by flat seas and no wind, and last week, small groups of migrants reached the island of Lampedusa, in Sicily, where since July 16 more than 1,300 migrants have landed, again crowding the local hotspot.
(Reuters)
