(AKI) - A total 392 illegal immigrants arrived on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa overnight aboard two people smugglers' boats.The first boat had 260 passengers on board, including four women and four children. It was intercepted some 50 nautical miles from Lampedusa and escorted into port by an Italian navy vessel.
The second boat, with 132 illegal immigrants on board, was spotted by the Italian navy at at 4 am local time.
Over 22,500 illegal immigrants have landed on Lampedusa so far this year - more than twice the number that arrived over the same period of 2007, Italian Interior Ministry Roberto Maroni announced earlier this month. Lampedusa is a tiny island that is closer to Africa than the European continent and a favourite drop off point for the people smugglers.
The number of illegal migrants heading for southern Mediterranean countries such as Italy aboard people traffickers' boats surges during the warmer months from April to October. Hundreds arrive each week in search of a better life in Europe aboard people smugglers' boats which mostly set sail from North Africa.