'Over 2000 migrants rescued in 24 hours from Mediterranean Sea'

Police said Sunday that the three were "members of a human traffickers' network" and that 13 of the migrants they were holding were fellow Pakistanis, three of them minors.

The coast guard spokesman confirmed that one person had died but gave no details.

On Saturday, the coastguard and five privately run rescue boats plucked migrants from 16 overcrowded dinghies and three wooden vessels packed with people hoping to make a new life for themselves in Europe.

On Sunday, 649 people rescued in a number of operations by the MSF Prudence arrived in Reggio Calabria.

The EU border control agency Frontex has accused non-government groups rescuing migrants of acting "like taxis".

"This weekend is set to be the latest marker in the record-breaking escalation of this ongoing humanitarian crisis at sea", Moas said.

So far this year, some 29,000 migrants, a lot of them fleeing poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, have arrived in Italy after being rescued by European military ships or private charity organizations.

The rescues come just days after a boat sank off the coast of Libya on Thursday. More than 5,000 migrants died in the Mediterranean Sea in 2016. We are where we're needed, what's the #EU doing meanwhile? "We have never had to deal with so many people at the same time". "Every day people continue to risk their lives while we, as civil society, stand witness".

"Where are Frontex boats in a day like this?" it asked.

Those frustrations are echoed by the other NGOs, with numerous rescue operators tweeting accusations directly against the European Union and Frontex. It is a miracle that we have managed to rescue everyone with no casualties today. In 2017, the sea continues to be a graveyard.

Video footage showed rescuers jumping into the water off the coast of Libya to help them.

A crewman of the Malta-based NGO Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) ship Phoenix tends to an unconscious migrant.