Hundreds
of people are feared to have drowned after a boat carrying up to 700
migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea, the Italian coastguard says.
A
major rescue operation is under way after the vessel carrying "between
500 and 700 migrants" capsized at midnight local time, in Libyan waters
south of the Italian island of Lampedusa.So far 28 people have been rescued.
Since the start of the year, at least 900 other migrants are thought to have died crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
In the past week alone, Italy's coastguard rescued 10,000 migrants whose vessels ran into trouble.
Live: Follow the latest developments
Italian ships, the Maltese Navy and commercial vessels are all involved in the rescue operation, 130 miles (210km) off the coast of Lampedusa and 17 miles (27km) from the Libyan coast.
The Italian coastguard's spokesman told the BBC the operation was still focused on search and rescue, "but in time it will be a search [for bodies] only".
Twenty ships and three helicopters were currently involved in the rescue, he added.
Marta Bernardini works for the charity Mediterranean Hope, which is based on the island and works with migrants. She told the BBC: "We are very sad. It's so difficult for us who live and work in Lampedusa every day, to know that a lot of people die in this way, in the Mediterranean Sea."
Lampedusa is the most southerly point of Italy - nearer Africa than the Italian mainland. Locals say that since January - when the EU took control of patrolling Europe's maritime borders - between 9,000 and 10,000 migrants have arrived on the island.
There are currently 1,000 migrants in a detention centre on Lampedusa - an island of 5,000 people. Three hundred migrants are being moved to Sicily on Sunday.
Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said rescuers were "literally trying to find people alive among the dead floating in the water
after a boat carrying up to 700
migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea, the Italian coastguard says.
A
major rescue operation is under way after the vessel carrying "between
500 and 700 migrants" capsized at midnight local time, in Libyan waters
south of the Italian island of Lampedusa.So far 28 people have been rescued.
Since the start of the year, at least 900 other migrants are thought to have died crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
In the past week alone, Italy's coastguard rescued 10,000 migrants whose vessels ran into trouble.
Live: Follow the latest developments
Italian ships, the Maltese Navy and commercial vessels are all involved in the rescue operation, 130 miles (210km) off the coast of Lampedusa and 17 miles (27km) from the Libyan coast.
The Italian coastguard's spokesman told the BBC the operation was still focused on search and rescue, "but in time it will be a search [for bodies] only".
Twenty ships and three helicopters were currently involved in the rescue, he added.
Marta Bernardini works for the charity Mediterranean Hope, which is based on the island and works with migrants. She told the BBC: "We are very sad. It's so difficult for us who live and work in Lampedusa every day, to know that a lot of people die in this way, in the Mediterranean Sea."
Lampedusa is the most southerly point of Italy - nearer Africa than the Italian mainland. Locals say that since January - when the EU took control of patrolling Europe's maritime borders - between 9,000 and 10,000 migrants have arrived on the island.
There are currently 1,000 migrants in a detention centre on Lampedusa - an island of 5,000 people. Three hundred migrants are being moved to Sicily on Sunday.
Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said rescuers were "literally trying to find people alive among the dead floating in the water
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