Over 1,000 migrants reach Italian isle; 23 reported missing

By FRANCES D’EMILIO
Associated Press

ROME (AP) — Some 1,200 migrants have arrived since Sunday on a tiny Italian island. The Italian Coast Guard said Monday evening that 35 migrant boats needed help and all arrived at the island of Lampedusa. Among the boats, there were three shipwrecks, the coast guard said in a statement. One left three migrants missing, while another had 20 missing, according to survivors, while in the third shipwreck, rescuers recovered a man’s body. The statement said 20 boats were still at sea. All the vessels had set out from Tunisia. Rough seas last week had discouraged launchings of the smugglers’ boats from northern Africa.