German rescuers save 200 migrants in Mediterranean

German sea rescue ship Humanity 1 has rescued 204 migrants, including several pregnant women and about 50 unaccompanied minors, during four missions in the central Mediterranean, reported dpa.

Berlin-based SOS Humanity picked up the people, including babies and toddlers, in international waters between the Italian Mediterranean island of Lampedusa and Tunisia on Tuesday, the association said on Wednesday.

Two people and three relatives had to be emergency-evacuated.

The Italian authorities have instructed the Humanity 1 ship to dock at the city of Ancona on the Adriatic coast of central Italy, a journey that is expected to take three days.

The crew criticized the assignment of the port, located 1,400 kilometres away, "an additional and unnecessary burden on vulnerable people," and urged the Italian authorities to make a closer port available.

According to SOS Humanity, the migrants departed Tunisia on four overcrowded and unseaworthy metal boats without life jackets.

The Interior Ministry in Rome says more than 72,300 people have reached Italy on boats already this year.

Around this time last year, the figure was around 30,900.

Many people try repeatedly to reach the islands of Lampedusa, Malta, Sicily or the Italian mainland via the central Mediterranean Sea.