The Italian coastguard said on 27 August that some 3,000 migrants had been rescued from the Mediterranean in a single day, with over 10 separate rescue operations taking place.
In two of the rescue missions carried out by the coastguard on 26 August, over 200 migrants were pulled from rubber dinghies about 30 nautical miles off the Libyan coast. Divers had to enter the water after one of the migrants jumped in and then risked pulling others with him as he tried to get back onto the dinghy.
Moments after the transfer of migrants had been carried out onto larger coastguard vessels the dinghy could be seen half-deflated and bobbing in the water. A Swedish coastguard boat is heading towards the port of Palermo with over 500 migrants, some survivors of yet another tragedy at sea. Fifty-one people believed to have died after breathing in fumes from petrol were found dead in the hold of a migrant boat.
The Italian Interior Ministry has said that as of 26 August, 111,354 migrants had arrived in Italy so far this year. Reception centres are hosting some 93,608 migrants and asylum seekers.
