Stranded ship with 629 refugees to be taken to Valencia

Hundreds of refugees stranded on board the Aquarius rescue ship will be transferred to Spain, the French NGO SOS Mediterranée confirmed on Tuesday. After refusing to allow the vessel to dock, Italy offered two military ships to escort the rescue boat into the port of Valencia.

In total, 629 people were saved by the charity’s boat on Saturday. In response to Italy’s refusal to accept the migrants, Spain’s new president Pedro Sánchez offered Valencia as a safe port. Catalan president Quim Torra subsequently offered to host the migrants.