German rescue ship takes in 200 migrants from Mediterranean

The German civil rescue vessel Humanity 1 has taken aboard almost 200 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean in several operations, reported dpa.

The ship encountered four migrant boats in distress overnight, rescuing the migrants, some of whom were extremely weaken or injured, the Berlin-based SOS Humanity organization, which operates the vessel, said on Saturday.

Italian authorities helped coordinate the operations, it said.

Two people were evacuated by the coastguard due to emergencies, according to the organization.

The first rescue operation took place on Thursday, SOS Humanity said.

The Humanity 1 then set off for its assigned port of Ortona in central Italy with a total of 197 survivors on board, a destination on the country's Adriatic coast more than 1,000 kilometres away from the operation sites near the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa.

However, the vessel was not given permission to enter the port. In the past few days, thousands of migrants had arrived in Lampedusa on boats and the island's reception centre is completely overcrowded.