More arrivals were expected on Sunday after 1,387 people reached the small island on Saturday and 1,778 on Friday, according to Italian news agency Ansa.

Despite recent boating accidents, large numbers of migrants continue to embark on the risky Mediterranean crossing to Italy.

The migrants, many of them children, arrived in Lampedusa on several boats. Some vessels were assisted by a sea rescue vessel and others by patrol boats from the Italian authorities.

Eight people died on Saturday as they crossed the Mediterranean to reach the EU. They were found by the Italian coast guard and brought to Lampedusa, Ansa reported.

On Saturday, 34 people were missing off the Tunisian coast after another boat accident. Four were rescued. Boats have also sunk in recent days. The Tunisian coast guard found seven dead, including four children and a baby.

The Mayor of Lampedusa, Filippo Minnino, calls for a common European effort in the Mediterranean.

– Europe and Italy must understand that there is a state of emergency in the Mediterranean. Women, children and men continue to die, he said.

Lampedusa is located between Sicily and North Africa, just 190 kilometers from the Tunisian coastal city of Sfax.

According to official figures, Italy has already registered more than 21,000 migrants by boat since the beginning of January. In the previous two years, there were about 6,000 at that time.

[ – Jeg lar ikke andre legge malen for hva jeg har lyst til å gjøre ]