Dozens of people were rescued off the coast in Libya after several dinghies got into trouble on Friday and Saturday.
ADVERTISEMENTThe non-profit organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said it rescued 73 people after carrying out two rescue operations at sea off the Libyan coast.
On Friday night, 47 people were taken from a fibreglass boat that was in difficulty, and on Saturday morning, another 26 people were rescued from a wooden boat.
All were safely brought aboard the GeoBarents rescue ship, which is operated by MSF and is now on its way to its assigned port of Ravenna in Italy.
The MSF rescue team said two people refused help on Friday and decided to stay on the fibreglass boat. They were later assisted by two unmarked boats that identified themselves as the Libyan coast guard.
Two people refused to accept the help on Friday, instead remaining on the fibreglass boat and later boarding two unmarked boats that identified themselves as the Libyan coast guard, according to the rescue team.
The Sea-Watch NGO also spotted the Libyan coast guard on Saturday taking some 80 migrants aboard two of their boats from a heavily overcrowded dinghy.