UPDATE - Nearly 6,800 irregular migrants arrive on Italy's Lampedusa island in last 36 hours

ADDS DECLARATION OF STATE OF EMERGENCY

By Baris Seckin and Beyza Binnur Donmez

ROME/GENEVA (AA) – Nearly 6,800 irregular migrants arrived on Italy's Lampedusa island over the last 36 hours, local media reported Wednesday.

Located on the Mediterranean route leading from Africa to Europe, Lampedusa welcomed 5,112 irregular migrants Tuesday, and the flow continued even at night with over a thousand more, according to state-run news agency ANSA.

One of the boats carrying migrants tipped over, and a mother from Guinea and her five-month-old baby fell into the sea. The woman was rescued but the baby drowned, the report also said.

After a group of Lampedusans protested against the arrival of the migrants with a sit-in outside the town hall later in the day, the Lampedusa City Council held an emergency meeting and declared a state of emergency on the island.

The decision was announced by Lampedusa Mayor Filippo Mannino.

Mannino said Tuesday evening that the island faced a flow of disembarkation in the last 24 hours and it cannot bear this "shock wave" anymore.

A total of 116,028 irregular migrants arrived in Italy from Jan. 1- Sept. 11 without the latest arrivals, according to Interior Ministry figures. The figure was 63,498 in the same period of 2022.

France will intensify controls at its border with Italy due to a 100% increase in the migration flow, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told local media Tuesday during a visit to southeastern France, the French daily Le Figaro reported.

The Mediterranean Sea is an important route for irregular migration to Europe.

Migrants' boats in distress seeking help are usually rescued by European non-governmental organizations instead of European authorities.

Irregular migrants who reach Europe by their own means usually first land on Lampedusa, the Italian territory closest to North Africa.

*Writing by Nur Asena Erturk in Ankara