Italy to boost sea patrols after migrant boat disaster

Italy plans to increase sea and air patrols following the deaths of 33 migrants when a boat heading towards its shores from North Africa capsized. The overcrowded boat capsized last Friday in choppy sea between Malta and the Italian island of Lampedusa, according to reports. A week earlier, more than 350 migrants died in another shipwreck off Lampedusa. Italy's Prime Minister Enrico Letta said an "air and naval package" would start on Monday south of Sicily. Italy has previously urged the European Union to help in dealing with the thousands of desperate migrants who wash up on its beaches every year, a BBC report said. Many are families fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East who hope for a better life in Europe. Italy's Defence Minister Mario Mauro has said the country intends to triple its presence in the southern Mediterranean.