Lampedusa: Newborn baby dies on Italy migrant boat

The child's body was placed in a white coffin and taken to a cemetery in Lampedusa, according to Italian media

The body of a newborn baby has been recovered from a boat carrying migrants during a rescue operation off the Italian island of Lampedusa.

The mother is thought to have given birth during the journey from North Africa, the Ansa news agency says, and the death is being investigated.

More than 8,000 migrants have arrived in Lampedusa over the past three days.

European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen is due to visit the island on Sunday after Italy asked for EU help.

Italian newspaper Corriere Del Mezzogiorno reports the mother was helped by companions on the small boat after she started having contractions.

The child's body was later placed in a white coffin and taken to a cemetery in Lampedusa's Imbriacola district, it adds.

Earlier this week a five-month-old baby boy drowned during a rescue operation off the same island, after a boat carrying migrants across the sea from north Africa capsized.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the country was being placed under "unsustainable pressure" as a result of the migrant influx.

Ms Meloni is pushing for a European Union naval blockade to prevent boats from crossing the Mediterranean to reach Italian shores.

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The Italian Red Cross has said it is currently dealing with about 2,500 people at a reception centre designed for 400 arrivals.

Volunteers and staff have been providing thousands of meals all week and helping transfer new arrivals to Sicily and elsewhere.

Nearly 126,000 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year, which is about double the number for the same period in 2022.

Ms Meloni said she was calling on Ms von der Leyen "to personally realize the gravity of the situation we face" and to "immediately accelerate" the implementation of an agreement with Tunisia.

The North African country has become the main departure point for African migrants attempting to reach Europe.

The EU deal, which was signed in July, is backed up by €110m ($118m; £90m) of EU cash to stop smuggling, strengthen borders and return migrants.

The surge in arrivals led to protests by Lampedusa's residents on Saturday who demonstrated against plans to build a new tent camp to host the migrants.

"I have two children at home. In the past years, I did not care about this issue. But now I have an instinct of protection for my children because I don't know what will happen to Lampedusa in the future," one of the protesters told the Reuters news agency.

"Lampedusa says stop! We don't want tent camps. This message is for Europe and for the Italian government. Lampedusa residents are tired," another protester said.

Lampedusa residents took took to the island's streets on Saturday to protest against the migrant arrivals