Almost 1,500 migrants rescued in Mediterranean

Almost 1,500 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean while trying to reach Europe were waiting to disembark on Thursday, NGOs said.

There were 659 people on board the Doctors Without Borders NGO's ship Geo Barents, 387 aboard SOS Mediterranee's Ocean Viking, and 438 on Sea-Watch's boat SeaWatch3.

Sea-Watch said Italian authorities had allowed its ship to reach the southern port city of Taranto.

The organisation said on Twitter: "Relief on the one hand, disenchantment on the other, because the way there takes almost two days. More unnecessary hours that the people on board have to endure in the heat."