Reports said most of the refugees were from sub-Saharan Africa, fleeing poverty and starvation there. As maximum capacity was reached, life jackets, basic provisions and supervision were then administered to the more than 1,000 people who remained stranded on unseaworthy vessels.
Medecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a medical charity which has carried out hundreds of rescue operations in the Mediterranean since the beginning of the migrant crisis, has criticised Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard agency, who operate official EU patrols on migration routes.
So far this year, about 29,000 migrants, majority fleeing poverty in sub-Saharan Africa, have arrived in Italy after being rescued by European military ships or private charity organizations. "We know we need to be out there, we have to be out there".
- MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) April 14, 2017Many more people could have died in a day like this if we arrived few hours later.
Private humanitarian organizations were involved in numerous rescue operations, while Italy's coast guard coordinated the rescues.
When reached for comment about Zuccaro's legal case, Frontex did not provide a comment.
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German NGO Jugend Rettet, which took part in the rescue operations on Saturday, said 3,000 people had been plucked to safety during a particularly busy day due to the calm spring weather in the Mediterranean. In total, 4,410 migrants died attempting to make the crossing to Italy in 2016.
In all, Italy's coast guard coordinated about 20 separate rescues on Friday.
The rescue ships will transport the migrants to southern Italian ports.
The voice that is often missing from the discussion is often that of the migrants themselves.
Friday had already seen some 2,000 people rescued while the body of one young man was found, presumed asphyxiated, aboard one vessel bursting with people. "We are just lucky we got out of Libya alive".
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