Tripoli – Yesterday, the Fenice Corvette, the patrol vessel Orione and the destroyer Mimbelli of the Italian Navy were engaged in the Strait of Sicily, off the Libyan coast, rescuing two rafts with numerous migrants on board. In the first intervention, Fenice rescued 119 migrants. The second boat was spotted from a helicopter attached to the Mimbelli, which was patrolling the waters. Given the precarious state of buoyancy of the vessel, which later sank, the helicopter launched rescue vessels, while the Fenice raced to save the 52 migrants. The helicopter of the Orione, while patrolling the area of the second rescue, spotted two migrants clinging to a barrel. The two migrants were rescued by helicopter and transferred on the Mimbelli for a health check, and finally placed on the Fenice that is now bringing them to Lampedusa. The Mimbelli remained in the area to continue search and rescue operations. (9Colonne)
