Police in Sicily on Thursday arrested two suspected people smugglers who were among 640 migrants brought to the southern port of Pozzallo, local daily Il Giornale di Sicilia reported.
The migrants were rescued by a German navy vessel from five motorised rubber dinghies, one of which was about to sink, the daily said.
Italian coastguard and navy ships have picked up close to 1,500 migrants and recovered three bodies from waters in the Strait of Sicily over the past 24 hours.
