Watch | Italian coast guard rescues over 170 people aboard burning ferry

Over 170 passengers, including migrants, were rescued from a ferry sailing from the Italian island of Lampedusa to Sicily early Saturday (Sep 30) after a fire broke out, according to media reports citing officials. This comes amid a surge of landings on the island which has led to the migration issue being at the top of the European agenda in recent months.

What happened?

The Italian coast guard said that it rescued 177 people including 27 crew from a ferry that caught fire when it was en route to Porto Empedocle in Sicily. The passengers also included 83 migrants being transferred from Lampedusa, said the Italian officials.

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The officials also announced that the passengers were brought to safety and put onto patrol vessels and are on their way to Porto Empedocle, except three who are returning to Lampedusa.

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In a statement shared on X, the Italian officials also said that during the rescue they used water jets to cool parts of the ferry affected by the fire. The blaze was said to have broken out in the engine room late on Friday (Sep 29) night.

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Surge of migrants in Italy

Italy, particularly Lampedusa, has witnessed a surge of migrants as many land on the Italian island after making the dangerous Mediterranean crossing by boat.

This has pushed the migration issue to the top of the European Union agenda with Italy’s hard-right government demanding more help from the EU.

According to the country’s interior ministry, more than 130,000 migrants have arrived on Italy’s shores so far this year which is double the number last year.

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has also sought to amend an EU pact on migration which would force charity ships rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean to disembark them in their own countries, reported news agency AFP, on Friday (Sep 29).

However, Italian media reported that her bid was rejected after an interior ministers meeting in Brussels the day prior during talks focused on handling asylum seekers and irregular migrants entering the 27-nation bloc.

(With inputs from agencies)

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