Over 300 migrants rescued off Libya coast in separate operations
More than 70 migrants, including three children, were rescued today off the coast of Libya as the Aquarius, chartered by the NGOs SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders came to their aid.
An AFP photographer was aboard the vessel as rescuers hauled at least 73 people to safety, including 12 women, nine youths and three children.
37 migrants were were Algerian with the remainder from sub-Saharan Africa.
German NGO Seefuchs said it had picked 19 other migrants headed for the Sicilian port of Trapani, where they were to be disembarked.
The International Organization for Migration tweeted meanwhile that the Libyan coastguard had picked up a further 241 people, including five children.