An Italian ship today morning reached the Sicilian port of Catania bringing 246 migrants to safety as well as the body of another after two rescue operations off the coast of chaos-wracked Libya, the coastguard said.
The Dattilo ship had on Thursday and Friday rescued 131 and 115 migrants trying to reach Europe on two inflatable boats.
The body was found on the second vessel, which was sinking when the coastguard arrived, a coastguard spokesman said.
There were 27 women and a child among the 246 rescued people.
More than 320,000 migrants and refugees have reached Italy's shores in the past two years.
