Italy, int'l NGOs rescue hundreds of migrants in Mediterranean

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ROME, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Some 930 migrants and refugees have been rescued in several operations in the Mediterranean off the coast of Libya, the Italian Coast Guard coordinating operations said Monday.

"About 800 people were rescued today in eight separate operations," a Coast Guard spokeswoman said.

"Since yesterday our crew had to make several rescues under bad weather conditions. Together with @moas_eu they rescued more than 430 people," tweeted the organization Jugend Rettet, or Youth Rescue in German, in reference to joint efforts with the Malta-based Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) search-and-rescue foundation.

This comes after the Italian Coast Guard said Sunday that it rescued 730 migrants in the central Mediterranean in seven different operations, with the help of Save the Children NGO and Jugend Rettet.

Also on Monday, several hundred migrants and refugees who were rescued over the weekend disembarked in Italy, including four survivors from a shipwreck that may have claimed over 120 lives, according to Italian news agency ANSA.

"According to testimonies gathered today in Palermo... a shipwreck in the Med may have caused the death of 126 migrants last w/end," tweeted Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesman from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Over 77,000 people reached Europe by sea and 1,828 have died or gone missing in the attempt as of June 14, according to the IOM's Missing Migrant Project. Enditem

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