Italy Finds 75 Migrants on Bulgarian-Flagged Yacht, Arrests Three Ukrainian Smugglers

The Italian authorities have intercepted a Bulgarian-flagged yacht carrying 75 migrants four miles off the town of Tricase, Salento region, the Italian newspaper La Pepubblica has reported.

The migrants - 58 men, seven women and 10 children - were probably nationals of Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia, the newspaper reported on Sunday.

Three people traffickers, all of them Ukrainians, have been arrested.

The vessel, first spotted by a plane of Frontex, the EU's external border control agency, was intercepted by an Italian Coast Guard patrol boat.

The migrants were taken to a refugee centre in Otranto, according to the Italian newspaper.