There is an emergency again on Lampedusa, the epicenter of the central Mediterranean route and for years a symbol of hope and desperation for thousands of people fleeing war, persecution and poverty. In less than 24 hours, nearly 800 migrants have arrived in Sicily, aboard fragile and overcrowded boats that were intercepted and rescued in often dramatic conditions. Rescue operations began in the middle of the night when three boats in distress were tracked down by patrol boats of the Guardia di Finanza and Coast Guard. A total of 154 people were on board, of different nationalities: Bengalis, Egyptians, Pakistanis, Sudanese, Algerians, Eritreans, Somalis and Syrians. Migrants told of leaving from Libya, from places such as Abu Khammas and Zuara, paying traffickers sums of between $4 and $6,000 for a place on precarious and overcrowded boats. As the hours passed, rescue operations in Lampedusa intensified. Thirteen boats were intercepted and brought ashore, including several women and nine minors on board. Shipwrecked people's accounts indicate departures from Tunisia, especially the Mahres area, and several Libyan coastal towns such as Zawia and Gasr Garabulli.