A Syrian refugee gave birth at
sea on her way to Italy as the number of
arrivals fleeing the war-torn country this year
rose to nearly 3,000 people, officials said. The woman was one of 355 refugees — most
of them from Syria — on two boats intercepted
by coast guard and navy vessels and escorted
to Sicily on Wednesday. “We found her with a piece of the umbilical
cord still attached,” Luca Sancilio, the local
coast guard commander in Syracuse told news
channel SkyTG24. Sancilio initially said the woman had given birth
to a little girl, although the hospital where they
were taken later said the baby was in fact a
boy. The coast guard estimated the baby was about
four days old and was born during the eight-
day voyage. Mother and son are well and resting, the
hospital said. A coast guard plane on Tuesday spotted the
heavily overcrowded boat that the woman was
travelling on. The people on board included 48 children. Mario de Rosa, captain of a navy patrol boat
that came to the rescue, told SkyTG24 that the
refugee boat suffered engine failure in stormy
seas. A second boat with 164 people on board was
spotted by a fishing vessel some 15 nautical
miles from the coast and was also taken to
Syracuse. The refugees said they had been at sea for 10
days and several were suffering from
dehydration, Italian media reported. Another boat carrying 107 Syrian refugees
landed in Sicily on Tuesday, getting stuck on
rocks just off the shore. Three Egyptian crew members from that boat
have been arrested on charges of aiding illegal
immigration. Thousands of asylum-seekers have landed in
Sicily in recent weeks, many of them coming
from Egypt and Syria. “There are now more Syrians than anyone else.
This is a really dramatic exodus,” Sancilio said. The interior ministry said 2,872 Syrians have
landed in Italy so far this year. Also on Wednesday, a boat with 115 migrants
presumably arriving from Libya was rescued by
the Maltese military and taken to the
Mediterranean island state. The boat was intercepted some 90 nautical
miles south of Malta, and the crew said they
were in distress as their dinghy had started
taking on water. This was the second group to arrive on Malta
this week after the navy on Tuesday rescued
another group of 81 migrants, most of them
apparently from Eritrea.
sea on her way to Italy as the number of
arrivals fleeing the war-torn country this year
rose to nearly 3,000 people, officials said. The woman was one of 355 refugees — most
of them from Syria — on two boats intercepted
by coast guard and navy vessels and escorted
to Sicily on Wednesday. “We found her with a piece of the umbilical
cord still attached,” Luca Sancilio, the local
coast guard commander in Syracuse told news
channel SkyTG24. Sancilio initially said the woman had given birth
to a little girl, although the hospital where they
were taken later said the baby was in fact a
boy. The coast guard estimated the baby was about
four days old and was born during the eight-
day voyage. Mother and son are well and resting, the
hospital said. A coast guard plane on Tuesday spotted the
heavily overcrowded boat that the woman was
travelling on. The people on board included 48 children. Mario de Rosa, captain of a navy patrol boat
that came to the rescue, told SkyTG24 that the
refugee boat suffered engine failure in stormy
seas. A second boat with 164 people on board was
spotted by a fishing vessel some 15 nautical
miles from the coast and was also taken to
Syracuse. The refugees said they had been at sea for 10
days and several were suffering from
dehydration, Italian media reported. Another boat carrying 107 Syrian refugees
landed in Sicily on Tuesday, getting stuck on
rocks just off the shore. Three Egyptian crew members from that boat
have been arrested on charges of aiding illegal
immigration. Thousands of asylum-seekers have landed in
Sicily in recent weeks, many of them coming
from Egypt and Syria. “There are now more Syrians than anyone else.
This is a really dramatic exodus,” Sancilio said. The interior ministry said 2,872 Syrians have
landed in Italy so far this year. Also on Wednesday, a boat with 115 migrants
presumably arriving from Libya was rescued by
the Maltese military and taken to the
Mediterranean island state. The boat was intercepted some 90 nautical
miles south of Malta, and the crew said they
were in distress as their dinghy had started
taking on water. This was the second group to arrive on Malta
this week after the navy on Tuesday rescued
another group of 81 migrants, most of them
apparently from Eritrea.
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