Sixty-two Pakistani migrants have reached the southern Italian port of Gallipoli, in the Apulia region, after being found on a tiny island by the local coast guard.
The coast guard said Friday that all the migrants, including nine unaccompanied minors, received assistance from the Red Cross and were in good health, despite a long and distressing journey.
It wasn't clear how they had reached the small Sant'Andrea island, about 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from Gallipoli.
The migrants have been transferred to a reception center in the coastal city of Otranto.
Hundreds of migrants continue to reach Italy's southern shores in small boats and dinghies, even though rescue ships operated by NGOs in the Mediterranean are banned from docking in Italian ports, due to the hard-line policy of outgoing Interior Minister Matteo Salvini.
