More than 2,200 people have been rescued in the Mediterranean as they tried to reach Europe and 10 bodies recovered, Italy’s coast guard has said in a statement.
They were picked up from 13 rubber dinghies, two small boats and one large vessel in 16 separate rescue operations on Saturday.
The International Organisation for Migration said this week that 4,220 migrants had died in the Mediterranean so far this year, compared with 3,777 in the whole of 2015.
As of 2 November, 159,496 people had reached Italy by sea this year, the IOM said.