Italy Rescues 6,055 Migrants Off Libya Coast As Nine Drown

MEP: Italy’s coastguard said nine corpses were recovered in operations in which 6,055 people were rescued off Libya Monday, three years to the day after 366 people died in the sinking that first alerted the world to the Mediterranean migrant crisis.

In a poignant reminder of the ongoing drama being played out on Europe’s southern shores, the coastguard coordinated the rescue of a total of 39 distressed vessels, the bulk of them overcrowded rubber dinghies but also including five converted fishing boats crammed full of people, mostly Africans.

Just under 200 minors were among those saved from one of the former fishing boats which had some 720 people on board, according to NGO SOS Mediterranee.

Most of the minors were unaccompanied and nine were under five years old. At least 10 of the 191 women on board were pregnant, according to AFP.