Some 1,400 migrants are mostly war refugees, officials say

Will be sent to reception centers throughout Italy

(ANSA) - Salerno, August 4 - An Italian Navy vessel is expected Tuesday in the port city of Salerno with 1,414 rescued migrants on board, most of the war refugees, officials said Monday.

Italian rescuers last month brought another 2,128 migrants from Iraq, Palestine, Somalia and Syria to this city lying close to the Amalfi Coast. The city is ready to process the migrants, most of whom are fleeing wars in their homelands. They will be spread out among reception centers in the south-central regions of Calabria, Campania, Lazio, and Molise as well as the north-central regions of Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria, and Lombardy, officials said.

Italy has been rescuing migrants coming from war-torn northern and sub-Saharan Africa since October 2013, after 366 men, women and children perished when their unseaworthy boats capsized almost within sight of the coast of Sicily.