Migrants rescued off Cyprus' north coast

NICOSIA — About 228 migrants, apparently refugees from Syria, have been rescued after their damaged ship drifted for hours in rough seas off Cyprus' northern coast, an official said yesterday.

Hasan Tacoy, transport minister of the Turkish Cypriot breakaway state in Cyprus' north, told The Associated Press that the migrants, including 25 children, have received medical check-ups and are now housed in a sports hall in the coastal town of Girne.

Apart from sea sickness during their 14-hour ordeal, the migrants are in good health, Tacoy said. Authorities are checking the identities of the migrants, who say they are Syrian and want to go to Italy. Their cases will be handled according to international norms regarding migrants, the official said.

Meanwhile, the Italian coast guard rescued nearly 600 migrants in Libyan waters in five operations in recent days, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa. The operations were carried out after Italian authorities received distress calls via satellite phones from the migrants' boats.

More than 150,000 migrants have arrived in Italy after being rescued at sea in unseaworthy boats as they risk their lives to flee war and conflict in the Middle East and Africa.

Regarding the Cyprus rescue, Tacoy said authorities received a distress call from the Tanzanian-flagged cargo ship Haj Zaher late Saturday, about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) off the coast. The ship had set sail from the Turkish port of Mersin, but the migrants apparently boarded it in open waters via small boats.

Strong winds and rough seas prevented coast guard vessels from approaching the Haj Zaher, which was left stranded after experiencing mechanical problems. The crew then abandoned the vessel, according to the migrants. Tacoy said authorities are searching for another vessel on which the crew may have gotten away.

The Haj Zaher then drifted to within 300 meters (1,000 feet) from shore where another vessel towed it to the port of Girne, also known as Kyrenia in Greek.

Cyprus lies around 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Turkey. The island was ethnically split in 1974, when Turkey invaded after a coup aiming to unite the island with Greece. Only Turkey has recognized a Turkish Cypriot declaration of independence.

An estimated 1.6 million Syrian refugees have entered neighboring Turkey since the Syrian war began in March 2011.

In September, a Cypriot cruise ship rescued 345 Syrian refugees, including 52 children, from a small fishing boat that issued a distress call amid rough seas off the coastal town of Paphos in Cyprus' internationally recognized Greek Cypriot south.