A boat packed with up to 600 migrants trying to reach mainland Europe has capsized off the cost of Libya. Hundreds of African migrants are feared dead.
The boat sent out a distress call after it ran in difficulties 15 nautical miles from the coast. The migrants were travelling in an overcrowded fishing boat. According to Irish Defence Forces, the boat was 110km northwest of Tripoli when the LE Niamh reached it. It had set out from Zuwarah, close to the Tunisian border.
Irish patrol vessel LE Niamh was first on the scene. The crew deployed inflatable boats each side of the vessel. However, despite their best efforts, the vessel capsized. The Irish naval vessel says that 390 people have been rescued and that 25 bodies have also been recovered so far. The operation is ongoing.
More than 2,000 migrants and refugees have died so far this year in attempts to reach Europe by boat.