Six people died, hundreds of migrants rescued from the Mediterranean

Six people died and hundreds of migrants were rescued from the Mediterranean, an aid organization said on Saturday.

The organisation SOS Mediterranee said on Friday it rescued 500 people within seven hours. One man was found dead on one of the rafts.

A spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) stated in a tweet on Saturday that 101 migrants were rescued from a sinking boot by fishermen, while five migrants drowned.

According to IOM, so far this year nearly 800 migrants have died trying to cross the Mediterranean in the often unseaworthy vessels provided by human traffickers.

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.