Dozens of migrants rescued off Italy, as many as 20 feared missing
Italian coastguards on Saturday said they had rescued 143 migrants off the island of Lampedusa, although about 20 others were missing, according to the survivors.
"The crews of four patrols rescued 143 people who had fallen into the sea" from a 10-metre boat, the coastguard said in a statement cited by AFP.
Survivors said that about 20 of those who had been on the boat were missing. Two men, an Eritrean and a Libyan, said they had been unable to locate their wives after the rescue.
A search for the missing continued on Saturday evening with two planes from Frontex - the border and coast guard agency for the EU's Schengen area - and the Italian navy flying over the area.
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