(MENAFN- Saudi Press Agency) Around 1,000 migrants on board 12 boats are being rescued in a major operation off Lampedusa on Sunday, Maltese media reported.
Italian and Maltese rescue vessels are involved in the operation some 160 kilometres off the Italian island, dpa reported.
'We are certain there are more than 1,000 migrants involved in today's rescue operation,' a spokesman for the coast guard in Rome was reported as saying.
A Maltese army spokesman told Malta Today that no distress calls were received and none of the boats requested medical assistance.
Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat posted on Twitter that his country's armed forces were involved in a 'major joint operation rescuing migrants on numerous boats leaving from Libya.'
Earlier on Sunday, Muscat warned that the rapidly deteriorating crisis in Libya could result in an increasing number of migrants catching a boat to try to reach Europe.
More than 300 people died last week trying to make the crossing, which claimed 3,500 lives last year.