US Navy ship rescues 128 migrants from raft near Malta

A US Navy ship rescued 128 men from a raft after it was spotted in the Mediterranean by a Maltese patrol aircraft, US authorities said, the latest incident in the growing migrant crisis.

The USS San Antonio, an amphibious transport dock ship, was called to the scene in the central Mediterranean late on Wednesday as high winds and seas were rocking the boat, US Navy authorities in Italy said in a statement.

The men were offered food, water and medical assistance and are due to be transferred to Maltese vessels later in the day, authorities in Malta said.

More than 550 people are feared drowned after two separate disasters this month when boats carrying migrants capsized and sank in the waters between Libya and the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.

At least 363 bodies have been recovered from the first boat which sank on October 3rd, while 34 died and as many as 200 are missing after a second incident just over a week later. Italy has stepped up naval patrols in the area to try to prevent further disasters.

– (Reuters)