Italian coastguard rescues hundreds of migrants off Lampedusa island

Italian coastguard members throw a rope to a boat in distress carrying migrants, during a rescue operation in the Mediterranean Sea, in this still image taken from a video, November 25, 2021. Italian Coast Guard/Handout via REUTERS

ROME (Reuters) - The Italian coastguard has rescued about 300 migrants from an overloaded boat that ran into difficulty in rough seas in the Mediterranean as they tried to reach Europe.

Some of the people were floating in the water as rescue units reached the boat about 14 miles from the coast of the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.