Migrant boat sinks: Hundreds feared dead off Libya coast

All those who took part in the rescue will receive counselling over the coming days, he said, to ensure they are coping with what they experienced, from men clinging desperately to life-rafts to women pleading with their last breath to be saved.

But as they saw their saviours approach, those in the stricken boat, which was taking on water, all rushed to one side, causing it to flip over.

Also on Wednesday, 94 people on board a rubber boat were rescued in a separate operation, coastguards said.

Officials said the family was among 373 people who were saved after a fishing boat loaded with hundreds of migrants overturned on Wednesday, though 25 bodies were also recovered.

Meanwhile, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said on Thursday that Australia has turned away more than 600 asylum seekers trying to reach its shores on 20 separate boats since enacting controversial new border controls in December 2013.

The Italian and Irish navies said their boats were responding to a distress call sent out by the vessel. “Then they risk their own life too”, she said.

Three other injured survivors were flown out by another navy helicopter to a hospital on the tiny Italian island, Lampedusa, south of Sicily.

As the Le Niamh pulled in, a little boy, peering between the metal railing of the ship, waved and gave a thumbs up sign.

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“These are boats which should only have 40-50 people on board and not 600”.

Five men have been arrested by Italian cops accused of mass homicide and human trafficking over the horrific deaths of over 200 migrants.

His comments followed one of the deadliest incidents in which more than 200 people are feared to have drowned off the coast of Libya on Wednesday. “There were some bodies floating, so it was quite a shocking scene”. One survivor, and not using a life vest, was noticed floating on his again.

All the nationalities of the survivors weren’t instantly out there.

Rescuers stated they feared no less than 100 individuals have been trapped under deck when the boat overturned, and would have instantly drowned.

“A boat of that size could take, safely, 50 to 80 people and you can imagine 700 people it’s terribly unsafe and overloaded”.

Two Libyans, two Algerians and a Tunisian were held by police after survivors of the disaster were brought to Sicily, as testimony emerged of the suspects allegedly beating and stabbing passengers during the perilous crossing. “The traffickers sealed the hatch with the weight of the remaining migrants”, investigators said.

Figures of the Italian interior ministry showed the country had received 82,464 migrants by sea by the second half of July, as much as 9 percent more compared to the same period past year.