Some 970 migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya on Thursday, Italy’s coastguard said, as the numbers attempting to cross the Mediterranean to Europe continue to rise, Al Arabiya reported on Sunday.

More than 13,400 people had arrived on Italy’s shores so far this year – an increase of 50 to 70 percent compared with 2016 and 2015.

According to the United Nations, more than 440 people have died or gone missing in January and February while crossing from Libya in the depths of winter, when the sea is at its most treacherous. The migrants rescued Thursday were crammed into four rubber dinghies, a small wooden boat and another larger one.

Italy’s coastguard said it coordinated the rescue operations with a Norwegian vessel under the command of EU border agency Frontex and two humanitarian ships manned by the SOS Mediterranee aid group, Doctors without Borders and the Spanish Proactiva Open Arms group.

Source: MENA