About 1,900 migrants crossing into Italy from North Africa have been picked up in the Mediterranean on Friday, raising to around 12,000 the total number of rescues since the start of the week, a spokesman for the Italian coastguard told dpa. The figure compares with just under 1,641 arrivals on Italian shores in the whole of last week, according to figures compiled by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). On Friday, the coastguard coordinated 17 rescue missions, one of which was still ongoing, the spokesman said. The operations drew on help from several tug boats and a passing merchant ship, as well as non-governmental organizations' vessels and Italian navy units, he said. Most of the rescues took place about 55 kilometres north of the Libyan city of Zuwarah, he added. A migrant boat sank in that area on Thursday, prompting the rescue of 96 people, and officers from Eunavfor Med - the European Union naval mission which first rushed to the scene - said its units had spotted about 20 bodies at sea.
