Up to 700 migrants are feared drowned in a series of shipwrecks off the Libyan coast in the last few days.
The boats capsized in the waters south of Italy on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday as the migrants were making a perilous attempt to reach Europe in sea unworthy vessels.
The Libyan coast is a major route for migrants trying to cross to Europe.
Almost 100 migrants are missing from a smugglers’ boat which capsized on Wednesday.
About 550 other migrants are missing from a boat which overturned on Thursday morning after leaving the Libyan port of Sabratha on Wednesday. Survivors said the boat had no engine and was being towed by a second smuggling vessel.
In a third shipwreck on Friday, 135 people were rescued, 45 bodies pulled from the water and an unspecified number of others are missing.
Meanwhile BBC reports MSF Sea group as suggesting that the death toll from the last week could be as high as 900.
