Italy: Coastguards pick up 234 migrants off the coast of Sicily

The Italian Coast Guard picked up 234 migrants from a vessel found in poor condition about 125 miles (200 km) off the coast of Sicily, Wednesday. The migrants were trying to reach Europe from Northern Africa. After the migrants were spotted by an aircraft, coast guards took the Luigi Dattilo (CP 940) vessel to intercept the migrant boat. The operation was coordinated by the National Centre Relief Coast Guard in Rome and managed to rescue all of the passengers, reportedly before their boat sank. The passengers, of whom 187 were men, 38 - women and 9 - children, were then transferred to the port of Augusta in Italy. EU officials have recently approved plans to use warships and reconnaissance aircraft in an attempt to stop migrant "smugglers" from operating in the north of Africa, specifically Libya. Libyan authorities have rejected the plan, but Brussels will reportedly continue to push the proposal as a UN resolution. Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain have already promised to deploy vessels for the mission if it goes ahead. Video courtesy of Italian Coast Guard