„Hundreds rescued from sea as Mediterranean migrant death toll hits 3,400
In this handout picture released by the Italian Navy on December 4, 2014 migrants sit in a boat during a rescue operation off the coast of Sicily. AFP/ „Marina Militare“
A total 408 migrants, mainly Syrians, have been rescued after spending six days adrift on a boat in the Mediterranean, Spanish officials said Wednesday, hours after the UN refugee agency declared the Mediterranean „the deadliest route of all“ for migrants.
The boat carrying the migrants was intercepted by a Spanish oceanographic vessel on Tuesday about 150 nautical miles east of the Sicilian port of Augusta, said the Spanish National Research Council which operates the research vessel said.