DHAKA: Nearly 3,500 migrants have been rescued from five wooden boats in the Mediterranean, and as many as seven other vessels have been reported at sea, Italy's coastguard says.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation on its website (www.abc.net.au) reported on Sunday morning that the migrants were packed onto wooden fishing boats in the Mediterranean off the Libyan coast.

Nine wooden boats thought to be converted fishing vessels and six large rubber dinghies were all found drifting around 45 miles off the Libyan coast after issuing distress calls via satellite phone, the coastguard said.

The exact number of migrants rescued was put at 3,480 by the coastguard and there were no reports of casualties.

One Italian navy boat, which was ferrying 475 migrants to Sicily, reported it had seven pregnant women amongst its human cargo.

The coastguard said rescue operations were ongoing.

"We have several assets at work," a spokesman said.

There have been 46,500 sea arrivals in Italy in 2015 so far, a 12 per cent increase on the same period last year, the UN refugee agency said.

Italy's government projects 200,000 will come this year, up from 170,000 in 2014.

BDST: 0823 HRS, JUN 07, 2015
HB