(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Tunisia's coastguard yesterday rescued 124 would-be migrants bound for Italy from a boat adrift at sea near Libya, said the International Committee of the Red Cross.
The migrants, all Africans, had been "attempting to illegally reach the Italian island of Lampedusa before they were rescued" and taken to the southern port of Ben Guerdane, said Mongi Slim, an official at the ICRC.
They had been at sea for three days after setting off from the Libyan coast on board a large inflatable vessel that later broke down, he said.
Among them were 109 Nigerians, including 19 women, seven Ghanaians, including four women, four Ethiopians, a couple from Cameroon and two Congolese.
Tunisia has been at the forefront of rescue efforts for a flood of mainly African migrants bound for Europe on unseaworthy boats that run into trouble.
In June, its navy rescued 356 migrants, mainly Africans but also including Syrians and Pakistanis who had left Libya on a makeshift vessel.
People smugglers have taken advantage of the chaos gripping Libya since the 2011 uprising toppled dictator Muammar Gaddafi to step up their lucrative smuggling business.
But the Mediterranean crossing is perilous and hundreds of migrants have died trying to reach Europe this year alone.
More than 108,000 asylum seekers and other migrants have arrived in Italy this year.
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