The Italian coast guard said it had coordinated the rescue of about 4,200 migrants sailing across the Mediterranean Sea on Friday, but also found 17 corpses on several rickety boats.
Distress calls were made from 22 different boats, many off Libya, but also off the southern Italian coast.
The total number of people rescued in 24 hours is one of the highest in recent years, but the coast guard could not confirm if it was a record.
Photo: AP
The busiest days this year have been the rescue of 3,791 migrants on April 12 and 3,690 on May 2.
The 17 bodies were found on three inflatable dinghies, from which more than 300 migrants were rescued alive, the Italian Navy said on Twitter.
The navy’s press office was not immediately able to say how the migrants died.
However, the Italian authorities have in the past spoken of the harsh conditions faced by the migrants at sea, where they have to endure extreme weather changes and are at risk of hunger, thirst and violence on board the often crammed and flimsy vessels.
Friday’s rescue operations were led by the Italian coast guard and included the help of Italian, German and Irish naval ships working under the auspices of the EU’s Frontex border agency.
A similar maritime rescue mission on Thursday saw more than 700 migrants helped to safety off the coast of Sicily after they had set sail from Libya in six boats.
Overall, more than 40,400 boat migrants — many fleeing conflict and poverty in countries such as Syria and Eritrea — have arrived in Italy since the start of the year, similar to the same period last year.
So far this year, about 1,770 migrants have perished on the hazardous journey to Europe, according to the latest International Organization for Migration (IOM) report, which does not include Friday’s rescue, a 30-fold increase over the same period last year.
The huge spike in the number of people trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in recent weeks has been attributed to the worsening security situation in Libya — the staging post for most of the crossings — as well as milder weather.
“It happens a lot in waves; you could have a few days where nothing happens, then there can be a high number of arrivals at the same time,” said Flavio di Giacomo, a spokesman for the IOM in Italy.
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