Italian Coast Guard rescues 500 migrants off Libyan coast

No fewer than 500 were rescued in the latest of the series of migrant boat mishaps plaguing the Mediterranean, the Coast Guard authorities said.

The Coast Guard ship Dattilo, according to TVC news discovered the bodies of the victims some 40 miles north of Libya.

The Dattilo, it was reported saved 106 people from the same dinghy, which was “half submerged” when help arrived. The vessel is still involved in other rescue operations involving boats in difficulty, the spokesperson said.

The Dattilo rescued a total of 393 other migrants in four different operations carried out on Thursday.

Another 106 migrants were saved by two Coast Guard frigates operating off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa.

No details were available on the nationalities of the victims or those rescued.

Tens of thousands of migrants fleeing war and hunger in Africa and the Middle East have crossed the Mediterranean to Italy and Greece this year, with the vast majority departing from the coast of Libya.

More than 2,000 are estimated to have drowned.