Italy rescues around 1100 migrants in Mediterranean

Migrants fleeing Libya on board of a dinghy wait to be rescued by emergency teams, as they were sailing at the Mediterranean sea toward the Italian coasts, about 17 miles north of Sabratha, Libya, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016.

Images show people struggling to swim in the water and groups clustered together in the rescue vessels.

The migrants had set off in overcrowded and unseaworthy vessels with enough fuel to reach waiting rescuers, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Migrants from Eritrea and Somalia cheered as the rescue boats arrived, with some jumping into the water and swimming toward them while others carefully carried babies onto the rescue ships. They were helped by the Italian Coast Guard and workers for a non-governmental organization.

More than 100,000 refugees have now reached Italy after crossing the Mediterranean in the past year, most coming from Libya.

It was one of several migrant boats rescued in the area on Monday.

The migrants, including infants and small children, were intercepted in a wooden boat near the coast of Sabratah, said “Proactiva” which was coordinating the rescue operation. It said that 2,726 died while trying to cross.

Rights groups say 3,500 are being held in around 20 official detention facilities across Libya, with many more detained in informal detention centres run by criminal gangs.