Migrant rescue operations are increasing, as calm seas returned to the Mediterranean, prompting a surge in departures from North Africa, the Italian coast guard says.
Ships manned by humanitarian organisations, the Italian navy and coast guard helped rescue about 4,500 migrants from about 40 different boats on Thursday alone in one of their busiest days of the year. An Italian coast guard spokesman said the corpse of a woman was taken from a large rubber boat.
The Topaz Responder, a ship run by the Malta-based humanitarian group Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), spotted around two dozen migrant boats in the sea about 20 nautical miles from the Libyan port city of Sabratha. The ship picked up 382 sub-Saharan African migrants from three large rubber boats, officials said.
The Bourbon Argos, a ship run by humanitarian group Doctors without Borders, plucked 1,139 migrants from 10 boats, and two other humanitarian vessels picked up 156 more. The Italian navy said it had rescued 515 from two dinghies, German humanitarian group Sea-Watch said it had 100 on board, and the Italian coast guard, which coordinates rescue operations, said it had deployed several boats.