300 migrants rescued off Libya

TRIPOLI: The Libyan navy has rescued some 290 migrants from sinking boats off the coast of Tripoli in two separate operations, officials said on Friday.

A coastguard patrol plucked 87 migrants of different African nationalities, including six women and a child, from a sinking rubber boat about 50 kilometres east of the Libyan capital. They were taken to a Tripoli naval base, said navy spokesman Ayoub Kacem.

In a separate mission, some 203 migrants including a woman and also all from African countries, were spotted on board two boats off the coast of the town of Zliten, some 140 kilometres east of Tripoli.