Hundreds of migrants trying to reach across the Mediterranean from Libya are feared to have drowned after their fishing boat capsized off the North African country.
Statements on Twitter by UNHCRofficials suggest that 250 people have been rescued so far and another 16 confirmed dead out of an estimated 600 migrants on the boat.
Italian coastguard is organising the rescue efforts, the statements say.
Journalist Karl Stagno-Navarra, reporting on Wednesday from the Maltese capital Valletta, told Al Jazeera that Maltese authorities confirmed that an Irish navy vessel and a vessel of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the aid group, were on site assisting the rescue.
He said that the boat sent out a distress signal that was picked up by the authorities.
There have tragically been many deaths, but [the MSF] does not have figures at this stage," the MSF said on Twitter.
He said that the boat sent out a distress signal that was picked up by the authorities.
The Mediterranean Sea is the world's most deadly border area for migrants. More than 2,000 migrants and refugees have died so far this year in attempts to reach Europe by boat, compared with 3,279 deaths during the whole of last year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Tuesday.
The IOM also said that about 188,000 people have been rescued so far this year while trying to make their way to the old continent. The IOM added the 200,000-mark could be crossed by the end of the week.
In April, a fishing boat with up to 800 migrants sank, making it the deadliest shipwreck in the Mediterranean for decades and a symbol of Europe's long-running migrant crisis.
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