More than 6550 rescued in Mediterranean over weekend

Italian coast guard and navy ships led the rescue of more than 6,550 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea at the weekend, in a sign that the surge of refugees fleeing via Libya for a better life on European shores has accelerated, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

On Saturday, Italian coastguard officials say 3,790 people were saved from 17 separate boats in distress, marking one of the largest single-day tallies of rescued refugees. An additional 2,861 were estimated to have been rescued on Sunday, officials said.

A girl was born on one of its ships after her mother was rescued, the Italian navy said on Monday.

Italian media reported that at least 10 died during the journeys, which are often made on overcrowded inflatable dinghies and fishing boats, with little or no food or water.

The weekend's rescues involved the mobilization of at least 10 Italian ships — as well as one French vessel that is part of operation Triton, the EU's border patrol mission operating off the coast of Italy and Malta.

Last month, after at least 700 refugees died when their boat capsized off the Libyan coastline, EU leaders held an emergency summit and agreed to treble the funds assigned to operation Triton, from €3m to €9m per month.