Libya coastguards rescue 215 people including 50 women

The Libyan coastguard said it rescued 215 migrants Sunday from two boats in the Mediterranean, including more than 50 women, a day after Italy said over 4,500 people were saved off Libya.

The Tripoli-based government, quoting a coastguard spokesman, said the migrants were of different nationalities.

"Among them were more than 50 women and an infant ... on board two rubber dinghies in the Sidi Bannour region," 15 kilometres (nine miles) northeast of Tripoli.

A rescue operation on Saturday by Libyan patrol boats rescued 272 migrants, including 60 women and a five-year-old girl, the coastguard said.

Those rescued mainly came from North Africa but also included Syrians, it said, adding their boats were intercepted off Sabratah, west of Tripoli.

"They have been delivered to authorities who coordinate anti-illegal immigration efforts in the region," a spokesman said.

The Italian coastguard announced Saturday that more than 4,500 people had been rescued off Libya's coast in a single day.

The operations rescued migrants from nine boats and 12 dinghies. The body of a woman was also recovered.
Source: AFP