Italian coast guard: 3,500 migrants rescued off Libyan coast

The Italian coast guard said it coordinated the rescue of 3,500 migrants Sunday from the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya as they attempted the perilous crossing from Africa to Europe.

The rescues were conducted by coast guard and Italian navy vessels, as well as ships from humanitarian organizations and the European Union border agency. The Italian coast guard said on Twitter that the ships conducted 27 separate search-and-rescue operations.

The migrants were picked up less than 35 miles from the Libyan coast, Agence France-Presse reported.

The Italian navy said on Twitter that its sailors had saved 117 migrants from a crowded rubber boat that was “in distress.” It said the patrol vessel Bettica engaged in six search-and-rescue operations that picked up 762 survivors and the body of one migrant who had died.

On its Twitter account, the Italian coast guard put the number of migrants rescued Sunday at more than 3,500. The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse said it was 3,324, citing information from the coast guard.

The European Union’s border agency, Frontex, said the number of migrants crossing to Italy doubled between April and May, as more people fled West Africa and Egypt. The pace of crossings is on par with last year, the agency said.

Last week, the authorities plucked more than 5,000 migrants from the Mediterranean in a single day as North African smugglers sought to take advantage of a break in rough seas, the Associated Press reported.

The migrants would be transferred to ports in southern Italy, the Agence France-Presse reported. More than 66,000 African migrants have reached Italy this year.