Up to 100 people were said to be missing and possibly trapped in the boat’s hull.
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According to those who made it to land, the boat was carrying some 650 people when it set sail from chaos-wracked Libya, “most of them Moroccans”, Di Giacomo said.
The Italian ship which led the rescue, the Bettica, was taking the survivors to Sicily on Thursday.
This incident follows the deaths of at least five people on Wednesday when a fishing boat carrying nearly 600 migrants from Libya capsized in the Mediterranean Sea.
An Italian Navy helicopter flies over an overturned boat off the Libyan coast..
On Wednesday, five refugees drowned and more than 560 were saved after a large fishing vessel capsized, in dramatic scenes captured on camera by the Italian Navy.
One 5-year-old boy got special treatment: He was airlifted from his rescue vessel to the island of Lampedusa, suffering from hypothermia, Nicastro said.
With calm weather returning to the Mediterranean, around 6,000 migrants, mainly sub-Saharan Africans, have set sail from lawless Libya this week.
Women wearing head scarves and children were among those rescued, but no details of the migrants’ nationalities have been given.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 1,370 migrants have died so far this year trying to make the perilous sea journey to Europe.
A rescue mission is now ongoing and the Italian navy say 500 people have been rescued so far – along with seven bodies and the death toll is expected to rise. He said he didn’t have any information about whether any bodies were recovered or how big the boat was.
The Bettica went on to save another 108 refugees and migrants from their dilapidated vessel in a second rescue operation on Wednesday.
In Tuesday’s incident, five migrants were found dead in the water.
Gentile said 77 people had been rescued.
In other rescues, a Libyan navy spokesman said a total of 766 migrants were rescued by the Libyan coast guard on Thursday.
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The survivors will be added to the list of almost 40,000 migrants and refugees to arrive in the country’s southern ports so far this year.
