OVER 350 shipwrecked refugees rescued by an NGO vessel received news that they had finally been allowed to come ashore today, 11 days after the first group was saved in the central Mediterranean.

The Italian authorities told the crew of Sea Watch 4 today that the 353 rescued refugees could disembark in Palermo, Sicily, after first being quarantined aboard an Italian ship.

The announcement came a day after Doctors Without Borders (MSF) — the international medical charity which operates Sea Watch 4 alongside German rescue-NGO Sea Watch — warned that they were having to monitor water consumption and ration supplies.