Italian rescuers have pulled two bodies from the sea as the search for another eight missing migrants continues off the coast of Sardinia
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Rescuers in Italy are searching for eight Algerians who they believe were trying to swim ashore after the motor of their boat failed off Sardinia's southwest coast. Officials on Saturday said three people who stayed on the craft were taken to safety.
The migrants were off the island of Toro, near Sant'Antioco, on the southwest coast of Sardinia.
"In the afternoon of November 16 and this morning we recovered two bodies in the water," explained Giuseppe Minotauro of the Italian Coast Guard. "The rescue operations go ahead, coordinated by the Coast Guard of Cagliari, with the help of our airplanes as well as other vessels and airplanes of the EU's Frontex mission and also the Italian air force."
Sardinia is a popular destination for Algerian migrants trying to reach Europe. Almost a thousand have arrived this year, most of them young, nearly all men. The island's administration said Italy's government has never officially responded to numerous requests and proposals to stem human trafficking from Algeria.