Dozens rescued from rough seas after two suspected migrant boats sink in Mediterranean

Dozens of people were dramatically rescued from choppy seas in the Mediterranean as they clung to a rocky reef on Sunday 6 August, after suspected migrant boats launched by smugglers from northern Africa shipwrecked in rough waters.

Survivors said some 30 fellow passengers were missing from capsized vessels, and the Italian Coast Guard confirmed that a woman and a child on board one of the boats lost their lives.

In a particularly risky operation, two helicopters battled strong winds to pluck people to safety, one by one, after they were stranded for nearly two days on a steep, rocky reef off the tiny Lampedusa island.