Over a hundreds refugees were thrown into water when their wooden boat
capsized off the Libyan coast. The vessel which was crammed with
refugees, started to lean on to its side and when it was apparent it was
going to capsize, the frantic passengers began to dive into the water
and swim for their lives.
At least five migrants drowned off before they were rescued and pulled
to safety. An Italian patrol boat actually saw that the vessel was in
difficulty and approached it a little too late to hand out life jackets
as the boat flipped over due to sudden movement of the passengers. They
however threw life-rafts/jackets to the migrants in the water. Another
navy ship in the area sent a helicopter, rescue boats to handle the
emergency and hundreds of migrants were safely rescued.
More photos below…