New Delhi: The Italian coast guard on Monday said that it was working to rescue two boats carrying a total of 1,200 people in the Mediterranean Sea, following the successful rescue of around 2,000 people over the weekend, reported news agency AFP.
The rescue of about 800 migrants was ongoing who were discovered on an overloaded fishing boat located in Italian waters over 120 miles (190 kilometers) southeast of Syracuse, Sicily, the coast guard said.
Another boat, which is carrying 400 people and is in the Ionian Sea off the coast of Calabria, southern Italy, had previously been sighted in Maltese waters.
The operation, which involved three patrol boats and a merchant ship, all coordinated by the "Nave Peluso" coast guard boat - was described as "complex" due to the overcrowding, according to AFP.
A spokesperson for the coastguard said it would take hours to complete the two ongoing operations because of difficult conditions, including the long distance from the coast.
Two merchant vessels were assisting in that rescue, the coast guard said.
Alarm Phone, a hotline used by migrants in distress, said on Twitter on Monday that the people onboard were "in panic", AFP reported.
Alarm Phone tweeted on Sunday that, according to a woman onboard, the boat that had set off from Libya was missing its captain, and several people onboard needed medical care, including a child, a pregnant woman, and a disabled person. Three people in distress had jumped overboard and one fell unconscious, it wrote.
The coast guard said that besides the ongoing operations about 2,000 people had been saved since Friday in "a large number of rescues".
AFP reported that according to interior ministry figures, more than 14,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the beginning of the year - significantly more than the 5,300 who arrived over the same period in 2022 and the 4,300 during 2021.