Migrants in peril rescued by Italy coastguard

A charity monitoring migrant boats in the Central Mediterranean said Monday the Italian coastguard had pulled around 50 people to safety after repeated appeals for help.

Alarm Phone, a hotline used by migrants in distress, tweeted that it was "relieved to confirm that the Italian coastguard has eventually rescued" the people, who had first called for help on Sunday.

There were no further details about those saved.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) had said earlier Monday that it had been alerted by Alarm Phone to a boat with some 45 people in distress.

It said its Geo Barents charity rescue ship would assist them if it came across the boat while it was en route to the port of Taranto.

"We immediately requested permission from the Italian authorities to intervene, but received no reply," MSF press officer Maurizio Debanne said.

"Under international law and maritime conventions, we are obliged to assist those in danger," he said.

Intervening could potentially have pitted the charity against the far-right government and its strict new decree law on rescues at sea.

The charity later said it was no longer looking for the boat.

Orders from Rome

MSF published a series of tweets earlier...