ROME: Twenty rescue operations on Saturday picked up over 4,500 people off the Libyan coast, according to the Italian coastguard, which was coordinating the response for yet another boat in distress in the Mediterranean.

Among those taking part in the rescue operations was a vessel of Doctors Without Borders, which said it had rescued over 800 people who were expected to be brought to safety in Italy.

“We started before first light this morning with our first rescue. We rescued two wooden fishing boats and two rubber dinghies,” said Simon Burroughs, emergency coordinator for search-and-rescue missions by the medical group — commonly known by its French initials MSF.

Burroughs said those rescued included Eritreans, Nigerians, Somalis, Libyans, Syrians and West Africans.

The 20 operations took place between 30 and 40 nautical miles off the Libyan coast, and saw rescue workers pluck people from eight boats and 12 dinghies. The body of a woman was also recovered.

Rescue workers pluck people from eight boats and 12 dinghies

The mass effort was carried out by an Italian military ship, the MSF’s Bourbon Argos, the MAOS search and rescue Phoenix, a Croatian vessel operating under EU border agency Frontex, two vessels operating within the Eunavfor Med mission — one British, one German — and the Italian coastguard.

The coastguard said another mission was under way to save yet more people who had run into difficulty during the perilous crossing from Libya to the Italian shores.

In videos sent by MSF, hundreds of people in brightly-coloured clothes could be seen sprawled out on the Argos, a nearly 70-metre-long Luxembourg-flagged ship which typically carries around 700 people.

“It’s quite a big boat, but at the moment every inch of deck space is covered. People are extremely relieved to be off of their sinking boats,” Burroughs said.

“We’ve had about a week of bad weather that stopped any kind of rescue operations, but last night and this morning weather changed,” he said, as children were heard crying in the background.

“There are multiple nationalities... Thankfully, everyone is in good health,” said MSF spokesman Sami al-Subaihi, who is seen aboard the ship in the video.

Launched in May, the Argos has been handling large rescue missions due to the growing waves of people seeking refuge in Europe.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2015

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