BARI - Hundreds Albanians fleeing their country arrived in this Italian port yesterday after making the short voyage across the Adriatic Sea in an overcrowded and rusting vessel.
Dozens of security forces were lined up on the quayside along with dozens of Red Cross workers. First off the boat were two women in advanced stages of pregnancy. They were taken away in a car of the Italian air force.
The ship left Albanian shores on Saturday afternoon to make the 230 kilometre trip to Italy, after picking up its passengers from a beach along Albania's northern coast.
Between 400 and 1,500 people are estimated to be aboard the Irini, thought to be registered in Montenegro, a constituent republic of rump Yugoslavia. Two Italian coastguard vessels accompanied the ship across the sea but tried in vain to convince the Irini to turn back.
