(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 11 - A young girl, believed to be around
the age of 10, has reached Lampedusa on a boat alone, rescuers
said Wednesday.
The little boat on which she was travelling had departed from
Sfax, in Tunisia.
The little girl's boat was rescued on December 8 by operators
working for the NGO Trotamar III who helped her disembark at
dawn on Wednesday.
The rescuers said the young migrant appears to hail from Sierra
Leone.
It is still unclear why she was travelling alone on the
intercepted boat.
Overall, 356 migrants landed on the Sicilian island overnight
before the arrival of the young girl rescued by the crew of NGO
Trotamar III.
They were travelling on five boats, including one which was
carrying 111 passengers, that were rescued by port authorities,
finance police and Frontex officials.
The first boat transported 111 people who hailed from Egypt,
Eritrea, Pakistan, Syria, Sudan and Somalia, including 13 women
and 11 minors.
The others carried a minimum of 45 and a maximum of 87
passengers from Bangladesh, Syria, Morocco, Sudan and Iran.
All passengers said they had departed from Libya. (ANSA).