ROME — The Italian coast guard says 6,055 migrants have been rescued in one day in the Mediterranean off Libya. Nine bodies were recovered.

The coast guard said it a total of 39 rescues Monday in the sea about 30 miles north of Tripoli. Smugglers took advantage of the first day of calm seas after days of rough waters to launch vessels crowded with migrants who pay them in hopes of reaching European shores.

Most of the vessels were rubber dinghies, but there were also two rafts.

Doctors Without Borders said the dead included a 23-year-old pregnant woman.

Italian coast guard and navy ships, as well as vessels in European Frontex sea patrols and several humanitarian organizations, participated in the rescues.

Two migrants needing medical care were flown to Sicily's Lampedusa island. </s> At least 5,650 migrants were rescued on Monday as they tried to reach Europe on about 40 boats, one of the highest numbers in a single day, Italy’s coast guard said.

A spokeswoman said one migrant had died and a pregnant woman had been taken by helicopter to a hospital on the Italian island of Lampedusa, halfway between Sicily and the Libyan coast.

One coast guard ship rescued about 725 migrants on a single rubber boat, one of some 20 rescue operations during the day. Three were still underway and the spokeswoman said the number saved could reach 6,000 by the end of the day.

About 10 ships from the coast guard, the navy and humanitarian organizations were involved in the rescues, most of which took place some 30 miles off the coast of Libya.

According to the International Organisation for Migration, around 132,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the start of the year and 3,054 have died. </s> Rescuers have also recovered eight dead bodies. The coast guard ship Diciotti took seven corpses from a rubber boat, while one body was recovered from another rubber vessel by the Topaz, a ship run by humanitarian group Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS).

Italy's coastguard coordinated the rescues off the Libya coast, including helicopter airlifts of three migrants in need of immediate hospital care, a spokeswoman said.

One was being evacuated because of a heart attack, while two others were suffering from severe hypothermia, she said.

The rescue ship Vos Hestia, run by the international charity Save the Children, was among those involved in the rescues. It picked up more than 400 people from a wooden boat during the night, according to the organization's Twitter account.

The death toll in the Mediterranean - the most dangerous border crossing on the planet for migrants - is estimated to be 4,655 this year, 1,000 more than in all of 2015, according to the International Organization for Migration.

More than 168,000 migrants have reached Italy by boat this year, exceeding 154,000 for the whole of 2015 and quickly approaching 2014's 170,000 record.

Italy has borne the brunt of new arrivals since the implementation in March of an agreement between the European Union and Turkey to curb the flow of migrants sailing for Greece. </s> At least 6,000 refugees have been rescued in 24 hours after trying to reach Europe from Libya in about 40 boats.

The Italian coastguard said a total of 6,055 migrants had been rescued from the water, and nine bodies were recovered.

The rescue operation, which was coordinated by Italian authorities, was one of the largest seen in a single day.

It is thought Libyan traffickers took advantage of the first day of calm seas after several days of high waves to launch boats overloaded with people paying to reach Europe.

Most of the vessels were inflatable dinghies, along with two converted fishing boats.

One coast guard ship rescued as many as 725 migrants from a single inflatable boat.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said the dead included a 23-year-old pregnant woman.

According to recuers around 200 children were saved from just one boat. Most were unaccompanied by adults, and nine of them were under five years old.

The vast rescue operation, just 30 miles off the Libyan coast, saw Italian coast guard boats along with navy ships conducting rescues, as well as vessels from the EU’s Frontex patrols work to bring the refugees to safety.

Two people, including a pregnant woman, required emergency medical care and were taken by helicopter to a hospital on the Sicilian Island of Lampedusa.

Bel Trew, a reporter for The Times, was with one of the rescue crews and said many of the refugees were injured and several in a critical condition were air evacuated.

The mass rescue comes three years to the day after 366 people drowned off the coast of Lampedusa. The sinking of the vessel in 2013 alerted the international community to the migrant Mediterranean crisis.

According to the International Organisation for Migration, around 132,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the beginning of the year, and 3,054 have died in their attempts. </s> More than 2,000 migrants rescued in dramatic day in Mediterranean

More than 2,000 migrants trying to reach Europe were plucked from the Mediterranean on Friday in a series of dramatic rescues and one person was found dead, Reuters reported.

An Italian coast guard spokesman said 19 rescue operations by the coast guard or ships operated by non-governmental organizations had saved a total of 2,074 migrants on 16 rubber dinghies and three small wooden boats.

The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said in a tweet that one teenager was found dead in a rubber boat whose passengers were rescued by its ship Aquarius.

"The sea continues to be a graveyard," MSF said in a Tweet.

The coast guard spokesman confirmed that one person had died but gave no details.

MSF said two of their ships, Aquarius and Prudence, had rescued about 1,000 people in nine boats.

Desperate refugees struggled to stay afloat after they slid off their rubber boat during a rescue operation by the Phoenix, a ship of the rescue group Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS).

Video footage showed rescuers jumping into the water off the coast of Libya to help them.

"In 19 years of covering the migration story, I have never experienced anything like today," said Reuters photographer Darrin Zammit Lupi, who was aboard the Phoenix.

In one operation, the Phoenix rescued 134 people, all from sub-Saharan counties, he said.

Those rescued by the MOAS and MSF ships were transferred to Italian coast guard ships, which had rescued other migrants, to be taken to Italian ports.

According to the International Organisation for Migration, nearly 32,000 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea so far this year. More than 650 have died or are missing. </s> About 6,055 migrants were rescued on Monday as they tried to reach Europe on about 40 boats, one of the highest numbers in a single day, Italy's coast guard said.

A statement said at least nine migrants had died and a pregnant woman and a child had been taken by helicopter to a hospital on the Italian island of Lampedusa, halfway between Sicily and the Libyan coast.

One coast guard ship rescued about 725 migrants on a single rubber boat, one of some 20 rescue operations during the day.

About 10 ships from the coast guard, the navy and humanitarian organisations were involved in the rescues, most of which took place some 30 miles off the coast of Libya.

Monday was the third anniversary of the sinking of a migrant boat off Lampedusa in which 386 people died.

According to the International Organisation for Migration, around 132,000 migrants have arrived in Italy since the start of the year and 3,054 have died. </s> (CNN) A five-day-old newborn peers out from a pink blanket. His dark, almond-shaped eyes stare directly at the camera, his tiny hand tucked underneath his chin.

His short life has been anything but easy.

He, his twin brother and his mother were among the 6,500 refugees and migrants rescued over 30 hours while attempting to make the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean.

Italian officers rescue a woman from a crowded wooden boat carrying more than 700 migrants during a rescue operation in the Mediterranean sea, about 13 miles north of Sabratha, Libya.

Medecins Sans Frontieres' ship Dignity 1 and the Spanish humanitarian group Proactiva Open Arms rescued people aboard 15 rubber boats and one wooden boat Monday.

BREAKING: The #Dignity1 , alongside @PROACTIVA_SERV , has helped to rescue 15 rubber boats and 1 wooden boat today. pic.twitter.com/ezsYTtV55H

MSF found the twins and their mother aboard one of the boats. The three of them were transferred via Medevac for treatment in Italy, according to a tweet from MSF.

UPDATE: The 5 day old babies have been transferred for a medevac to Italy,

On the same day, MSF, Proactiva Open Arms and crews from the Italian Coast Guard rescued more than 3,000 migrants off the coast of Libya. Most of the rescues took place off the coast of Libya and one was in Maltese waters.

Forty different organizations -- including EU's Marine mission "Sophia" which fights smugglers and Frontex, the European Agency tasked with border security -- rescued around 6,500 migrants in a single day, according to the Italian Coast Guard.

The rescued migrants are being taken to Italian ports in Calabria and Sicily.

The number of people plucked from sea on Monday was much higher than the average.

For comparison, the route was used by 2,197 migrants in the week that started August 14, according to the International Organization for Migration. Monday's rate nearly tripled that weekly amount.

Most of the migrants rescued this week came from sub-Saharan Africa. Many of the migrants using the central Mediterranean route, which is from Libya or other north African countries to Italy, are from Nigeria, Eritrea and Gambia according to the IOM.

The main departure route for refugees from Africa has been Libya, according to the IOM , as migrants take advantage of the country's ongoing political chaos to escape over their mostly open borders. Libya's crisis has helped boost a lucrative smuggling business as African migrants who reach southern Libya are transported through the desert to northern beaches where they board boats bound for Europe.

Of those who climbed into boats, 3,165 people have died at sea.

Migrants have boarded plastic rafts that deflate and overcrowded wooden fishing boats that have overturned and tossed people overboard.

Most of the deaths in 2016 came from people risking this particular route, which is considered dramatically more dangerous. Vessels tend to be more crowded, often carrying 600 or more passengers, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency.

Many are fleeing conflict in Syria, Afghanistan and elsewhere, while others are escaping poverty or repression in Africa. Millions of migrants have been driven toward Europe via the Mediterranean.

But as migrant boats and rafts cross the Mediterranean Sea, gateways into Europe are narrowing and many are growing wary. </s> The bodies of at least 34 migrants, many of them young children, were recovered from the sea off Libya after some 200 migrants tumbled into rough waters when their overcrowded smugglers' boat capsized Wednesday, the Italian coast guard said.

"Many of the bodies are small toddlers," tweeted Chris Catambrone of the non-profit group MOAS, which was helping in the rescue effort.

MOAS tweeted photos showing survivors in orange life vests bobbing in Mediterranean waters as they awaited rescue.

"The immediate intervention of the coast guard boat Fiorillo and the MOAS boat Phoenix permitted the rescue of the majority of the migrants who had fallen into the water," the Italian coast guard said in a statement Wednesday evening.

Earlier in the day, the coast guard said some 200 of 500 migrants aboard had fell into the sea, either because a big wave hit the vessel or many migrants suddenly shifted to one side.

The capsizing incident was one of several rescue operations coordinated by the Italian coast guard. In all, some 1,800 migrants were rescued Wednesday from unseaworthy dinghies or wooden fishing boats. A commercial tugboat and three cargo ships in the vicinity were pressed into service to save lives, along with vessels from the Italian navy, a European patrol force and non-profit vessels, the coast guard said. </s> ROME: More than 2,000 migrants trying to reach Europe were plucked from the Mediterranean on Friday in a series of dramatic rescues and one person was found dead, officials and witnesses said.

An Italian coast guard spokesman said 19 rescue operations by the coast guard or ships operated by non-governmental organisations had saved a total of 2,074 migrants on 16 rubber dinghies and three small wooden boats.

The medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said in a tweet that one teenager was found dead in a rubber boat whose passengers were rescued by its ship Aquarius.

"The sea continues to be a graveyard," MSF said in a Tweet.

The coast guard spokesman confirmed that one person had died but gave no details.

MSF said two of their ships, Aquarius and Prudence, had rescued about 1,000 people in nine boats.

Desperate refugees struggled to stay afloat after they slid off their rubber boat during a rescue operation by the Phoenix, a ship of the rescue group Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS).

Video footage showed rescuers jumping into the water off the coast of Libya to help them.

"In 19 years of covering the migration story, I have never experienced anything like today," said Reuters photographer Darrin Zammit Lupi, who was aboard the Phoenix.

In one operation, the Phoenix rescued 134 people, all from sub-Saharan counties, he said.

Those rescued by the MOAS and MSF ships were transferred to Italian coast guard ships, which had rescued other migrants, to be taken to Italian ports.

According to the International Organisation for Migration, nearly 32,000 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea so far this year. More than 650 have died or are missing.
The Italian coast guard rescues more than 5,600 migrants, in one of the biggest operations in a single day.