ROME (AFP) - Italian police have discovered 24 Afghan children living in filthy conditions in the sewer system under a Rome railway station, Italian media reported Saturday. The children, ranging in age from 10 to 15, were unaccompanied and some were in poor physical condition, the reports said. They slept under cartons or dirty blankets in the hiding place not far from Romes Colosseum, the daily La Repubblica reported. Railway police discovered the children along with 98 other people including other Afghans, the report said, adding that they were being cared for by the citys social services. The Italian branch of the charity Save the Children said in a statement that the number of Afghan minors arriving in the Italian capital rose steadily from 32 in 2004 to 264 in 2007. More than 1,000 foreign minors wound up in Rome in 2007 out of a total of nearly 8,000 in Italy, the group said on its web site. La Repubblica said the children found in the sewer system were thought to have reached Italy via Turkey and Greece.