The bodies of at least 34 migrants, many of them young children, were recovered from the sea off Libya after some 200 migrants tumbled into rough waters when their overcrowded smugglers' boat capsized Wednesday, the Italian coast guard said.

"Many of the bodies are small toddlers," tweeted Chris Catambrone of the non-profit group MOAS, which was helping in the rescue effort.

MOAS tweeted photos showing survivors in orange life vests bobbing in Mediterranean waters as they awaited rescue.

"The immediate intervention of the coast guard boat Fiorillo and the MOAS boat Phoenix permitted the rescue of the majority of the migrants who had fallen into the water," the Italian coast guard said in a statement Wednesday evening.

Earlier in the day, the coast guard said some 200 of 500 migrants aboard had fell into the sea, either because a big wave hit the vessel or many migrants suddenly shifted to one side.

The capsizing incident was one of several rescue operations coordinated by the Italian coast guard. In all, some 1,800 migrants were rescued Wednesday from unseaworthy dinghies or wooden fishing boats. A commercial tugboat and three cargo ships in the vicinity were pressed into service to save lives, along with vessels from the Italian navy, a European patrol force and non-profit vessels, the coast guard said.</s>At least 31 migrants drowned after an inflatable boat carrying 500 people capsized in the Mediterranean Sea, Italian Coast Guard said.

The tragedy occurred some 50 km off the coast of Libya on Wednesday, when the dinghy was struck by a large wave and keeled to one side, causing 200 people to fall into the sea, Efe news reported.

The coast guard, along with a tow boat and a ship belonging to the Maltese NGO Migrant Offshore Aid Station, rescued some of the migrants from the sea and picked up those who remained on the raft, but they also found at least 31 corpses floating in the water.

“Not a scene from a horror movie…Real life tragedy unfolding on Europe’s doorstep today!” MOAS founder Christopher Catrambone tweeted, alongside a picture that showed many people in the water.

The precarious vessel had departed on Tuesday night from the port city of Zuwara, in northern Libya.

More than 50,000 migrants have reached Italy so far in 2017, a 46 per cent increase compared to last year, according to data provided by the Italian interior ministry.</s>ROME >> The Italian coast guard says at least 20 migrants have died after their vessel capsized off Libya’s coast.

The coast guard says the ship was carrying about 500 people. At a certain point, either a wave hit or the migrants shifted to one side and about 200 of them ended up in the water.

Officials intervened and rescued most, but at least 20 bodies were seen. The coast guard, which is coordinating migrant rescues, has dispatched other rescue vessels to the area to try to find any survivors.

The incident was one of 15 rescue operations over the past day that have saved some 1,700 people.</s>Italy's coast guard said on Tuesday it had coordinated the rescue of 1,271 migrants from rubber and wooden boats in several operations off the coast of Libya.

Italy was long at the frontier of seaborne migration from North Africa, but most of the hundreds of thousands of people arriving in Europe on rickety boats last year took a less risky route to Greece.

Vessels from the Italian navy and coast guard and a Slovenian military ship working as part of the European Union naval operation Eunavfor Med conducted the rescues.

Italy used to run its own search and rescue mission for the boat migrants, but the Mare Nostrum or "Our Sea" project was stopped and replaced with the European Union's Frontex scheme, which had to be expanded as Europe faced its worst migration crisis since World War Two.

The influx of migrants has provided the European Union with one of the harshest tests in its history, leading to threats from some member states to bar Greece from the Schengen passport-free travel area.</s>Rome, May 24 - At least 20 people are dead after a migrant-boat wreck some 30 miles from the Libyan coast, Coast Guard sources said Wednesday. The boat was headed towards Italy with around 500 asylum seekers on board when it capsized and sent some 200 migrants into the water, sources said. A search has been launched for the other people who ended up in the sea, with more drownings feared. The rescue effort is being coordinated by the Coast Guard in Rome.</s>At least 31 African migrants including young children drowned when they fell off an overloaded vessel in the Mediterranean Sea

The migrants were on a wooden boat carrying between 500 and 700 people and were just 20 nautical miles off the Libyan coast when the accident happened.

The crew of the Phoenix aid boat, chartered by MOAS, had begun the rescue and were distributing lifejackets when many of those on deck fell into the water, perhaps knocked off balance by a wave.

With the help of an Italian coast guard ship and several commercial ships, rescuers raced to drag as many people as possible from the water, while a military aircraft dropped life-rafts and a helicopter looked for survivors.

About 15 relief operations were under way off Libya in total, the coast guard said.</s>ROME: At least 20 dead bodies have been seen in the sea some 30 miles off the coast of Libya, Italy's Coast Guard said on Wednesday, as efforts to rescue some 1,700 people packed onto 15 boats continued.

"About 200 people fell into the water when one of the boats listed dangerously," Coast Guard Commander Cosimo Nicastro told Reuters. "At least 20 dead bodies were spotted in the water."

Co-founder of humanitarian rescue group MOAS, Chris Catrambone, said on Twitter that many corpses had been brought on board their ship, and that toddlers were among the dead seen in the water.

The Coast Guard is calling in more ships to help with rescues, Nicastro said. Apart from the MOAS vessel, a tug boat was assisting in rescues coordinated by the Italian Coast Guard in Rome.</s>ROME—The bodies of at least 34 migrants, many of them young children, were recovered from the sea off Libya after some 200 migrants tumbled into rough waters when their overcrowded smugglers’ boat capsized Wednesday, the Italian coast guard said.

“Many of the bodies are small toddlers,” tweeted Chris Catambrone of the non-profit group MOAS, which was helping in the rescue effort.

MOAS tweeted photos showing survivors in orange life vests bobbing in Mediterranean waters as they awaited rescue.

“The immediate intervention of the coast guard boat Fiorillo and the MOAS boat Phoenix permitted the rescue of the majority of the migrants who had fallen into the water,” the Italian coast guard said in a statement Wednesday evening.</s>At least 20 dead bodies have been seen in the sea some 30 miles off the coast of Libya, Italy's Coast Guard said on Wednesday, as efforts to rescue some 1,700 people packed onto 15 boats continued. "About 200 people fell into the water when one of the boats listed dangerously," Coast Guard Commander Cosimo Nicastro told Reuters.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Star Online.</s>Rome: At least 34 migrants, most of them toddlers, drowned on Wednesday, as coastguard boats and other vessels tried to save hundreds of others packed into boats off the coast of Libya, rescuers said.

One of a group of boats listed suddenly, sending about 200 people tumbling into the Mediterranean, Italian Coast Guard commander Cosimo Nicastro told Reuters.

"At least 20 dead bodies were spotted in the water," he said. Rescue group MOAS said it had already recovered 34 bodies. "Most are toddlers," the group`s co-founder Chris Catrambone said on Twitter.

The coast guard called in more ships to help with the rescue, saying about 1,700 people were packed into about 15 vessels.

More than 1,300 people have died this year on the world`s most dangerous crossing for migrants fleeing poverty and war across Africa and the Middle East.

In the past week, more than 7,000 migrants have been plucked from unsafe boats in international waters off the western coast of Libya, where people smugglers operate with impunity.

Despite efforts by Italy and the European Union to bolster the Tripoli-based coast guard and funnel training and equipment to fight trafficking to the U.N.-backed government, record numbers of migrants are coming this year.

More than 50,000 migrants have been rescued at sea and brought to Italy so far, a 46 percent increase on the same period of last year, the Interior Ministry said this week.

Most rescues take place just outside the 12-mile mark that separates Libyan territory from international waters.

It is a busy stretch of sea where humanitarian vessels, the Libyan Coast Guard and even scavengers hoping to recover abandoned migrant boats and their engines all operate.

The Libyan Coast Guard on Tuesday fired shots as non-governmental vessels conducted rescues nearby, humanitarian group Jugend Rettet, which operates the Iuventa rescue ship, said on its Facebook page.

The shooting prompted about 100 migrants to jump into the water and swim toward humanitarian vessels. It was unclear if anyone had been killed or wounded. The Libyans then towed two migrant boats back to shore while humanitarian groups brought more than 1,000 on board.
The Italian Coast Guard reports that at least 20 migrants are killed when their 500-passenger boat capsizes in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya's coast. About 1,700 people have been rescued in 15 operations since Tuesday.