DHAKA: Italian and merchant ships have rescued almost 1,000 migrants from three overcrowded skiffs near the coast of Libya and found one dead body.

Italy’s coast guard said, reports The Straits Times.

The migrants sent out a distress call by satellite phone on Friday and were being taken to ports in Sicily, the coast guard added, without giving details of their nationalities.

Refugees and migrants from the Middle East and Africa regularly risk the hazardous journey between Libya and Sicily to reach the European Union.

Around 3,500 are estimated to have drowned last year when more than 170,000 migrants managed to reach Italy by sea.

BDST: 2114 HRS, APR 11, 2015
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