Rome, Jul 5 (UNI) Italy's Interior Ministry said on Sunday that it is testing 180 migrants rescued in the Mediterranean, before transferring them to a quarantine vessel in Sicily.
The migrants have been stranded on the Ocean Viking ship operated by SOS Mediterranee for more than a week. Authorities on the ship said that several fights have broken out between the migrants and many of them have tried to commit suicide, forcing the charity to declare a state of emergency on Friday, Al Jazeera reported.
A medical team sent by the authorities in Pozzallo, Sicily "ascertained the absence of particular health problems and also reported that some tensions that had been earlier been registered on the ship, are being addressed and overcome," the ministry source said.