Italy works to transfer thousands of migrants who reached a tiny island in a day

By VALERIA FERRARO
Associated Press

LAMPEDUSA ISLAND, Italy (AP) — A migrant reception center in Italy’s southernmost island of Lampedusa is overwhelmed as authorities work to transfer to transfer thousands of newly arrived migrants to the mainland. The Red Cross says there are still 4,200 migrants at the center, out of the 6,800 who reached the tiny tourist and fishing island within 24 hours in a flotilla of some 120 boats arriving from Tunisia.  Commercial ferries and Italian military vessels were taking newcomers from Lampedusa to mainland Italy on Thursday.  The movements of newly arrived migrants are usually tightly controlled. But with the reception center overflowing, volunteers say some people slipped away. Some islanders responded by giving them food and water.