.Over 900 feared dead after boat overturned Libya in one of the worst maritime disasters since end of World War Two
- .At least three migrants killed when a vessel sailing from Turkey ran aground on the Greek holiday island of Rhodes
- .Malta's PM Joseph Muscat demands the EU tackle civil war in Libya that allows traffickers to operate with impunity
- .Compounded by rise of ISIS which has threatened to send 500,000 migrants to Europe as a 'psychological weapon'
The child was plucked from the waters off Rhodes after a wooden sailing boat ran aground off the Greek island, killing at least three people.
It was one of three separate tragedies that have claimed the lives of nearly 1,000 migrants in just 24 hours, prompting one European leader to warn of a 'genocide' in the Mediterranean.
More than 900 mainly African migrants are also believed to have perished when a fishing boat capsized off Libya yesterday in one of the worst maritime tragedies since the Second World War.
Survivors claimed up to 300 people including women and children 'drowned like rats in cages' after being locked in the hold by callous traffickers, while a further 100 migrants were rescued from a third vessel late last night.
In the wake of the disasters, Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat called for the European Union to resume rescue operations and address the chaos in Libya which allows smugglers - who charge migrants thousands of pounds for the passage to Europe - to operate with impunity.
The north African country is riven by a bitter civil war where two rival governments are fighting for control. This has been compounded by the growth of Islamic State within Libya, which earlier this year threatened to send a wave of 500,000 migrants towards Europe's shores.
Horrendous sight: A man carries the body of a dead child onto the Greek island of Rhodes after a wooden sailing boat carrying dozens of people ran aground, killing at least three people in one of a number of tragedies involving migrant vessels over the last two days
Harrowing: Video footage shows a large, wooden double-masted boat with people packed on board, just meters away from the Greek island of Rhodes in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. At least people are thought to have died in one of three migrant boat disasters in just 24 hours
Rescue: The vessel capsized after hitting rocks off the coast, causing dozens of desperate migrants to fall in to the choppy waters
Three bodies have already been recovered from the water and a further 80 people have been rescued so far, a Greek coast guard official said
Mr Muscat said: 'We have what is fast becoming a failed state on our doorsteps and criminal gangs are enjoying a heyday.'
He said the United Nations should mandate a force to intervene directly in Libya to disrupt or attack traffickers and stop the boats from setting off.
'A time will come when Europe will be judged harshly for its inaction as it was judged when it had turned a blind eye to genocide,' said Muscat, who is in Rome on Monday to meet with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
'I believe that the (European) focus should be what should be done in Libya to stop the boats. Unless something is done about Libya, these scenes will be repeating themselves.'
David Cameron called it 'a very dark day for Europe'.
He said: 'We should put the blame squarely with the criminal human traffickers who are the ones managing, promoting and selling this trade in human life.
'We must use all the resources we have including Britain's aid budget, which can play a role in trying to stabilise countries and trying to stop people from trafficking.'
The toll has refocused attention on demands for a more co-ordinated European response to what Italian premier Matteo Renzi said had become 'a plague in our continent' and the new 'slave trade'.
It also comes days after another wreck is believed to have killed around 400 people.
As EU foreign and interiors met to discuss their response to the worsening crisis, the International Organization for Migration said it had received a distress call from another boat in the Mediterranean carrying more than 300 people, with at least 20 reported dead.
Horror at sea: Bodies of dead migrants are seen on board an Italian coastguard ship in Malta's Grand Harbour after being recovered from the Mediterranean. Some of those on the smuggler vessel which capsized died like 'rats in a cage' after being locked in the hold, a survivor said
'I held him in my arms as if he were my own son': Rescue worker Francesco Gallo (not pictured), an officer on board the Guardia Finanza police boat Monte Sperone, told of the harrowing moment he picked up the lifeless body of a small boy aged around ten
Grim task: Italian coastguard personnel in protective clothing carry the body of a dead immigrant off their ship Bruno Gregoretti in Valletta's Grand Harbour in Malta after a smuggler vessel capsized in the Mediterranean
The IOM's Federico Soda the organisation had given the Italian coast guard the coordinates for that and two other distressed vessels, but that they were still tied up with the earlier shipwreck.
If the latest deaths are confirmed, the number of people who have died trying to reach Europe for a better life will have topped 1,650 so far this year - more than 30 times higher than the same period last year.
With ISIS having established strongholds in the towns on Sirte and Derna, and with smaller bases elsewhere in the country, it is thought the surge in numbers of migrants making the dangerous journey could be linked to the terror group's ever-growing presence.
Only this weekend ISIS militants filmed themselves savagely beheading and shooting 30 Ethiopian Christians that authorities believe were would-be migrants that had travelled to Libya with dreams of making a new life in Europe.
Speaking of his concerns that the Christians were migrants, Ethiopian government spokesman Redwan Hussein said: 'If this is confirmed, it will be a warning to people who wish to risk and travel to Europe through the dangerous route.'
Abba Kaletsidk Mulugeta, an official with the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahdo Church's Patriarchate Office, said he also believed the victims were probably migrants.
'I believe this is just another case of the IS group killing Christians in the name of Islam. Our fellow citizens have just been killed on a faith-based violence that is totally unacceptable,' he said.
'This is outrageous. No religion orders the killing of other people, even people from another religion,' he added.
Fear of capture and execution at the hands of the radical Islamists is no doubt one element driving the desperate migrants to leave Libya as quickly as they can, dangerously overloading vessels operated by heartless people traffickers.
As well as the spread of ISIS in the country, Libya is currently in a state of civil war - with two rival governments controlling and operating in different areas of the country.
People smugglers are taking advantage of the subsequent chaos and confusion tearing the country apart to ply their trade with little to no threat of being caught.
In 2015, there have already been 30 times more migrants dying off the coast of Libya than in 2014, which was itself a record-breaking year.
A Italian coast guard ship today brought the bodies of 24 victims from the boat travelling from Egypt to Malta for burial before heading to Sicily with only 28 survivors who were plucked from the sea after the disaster off the coast of Libya.
Taken for burial: More than 900 people – including 200 women and up to 50 children – are feared dead after the boat overturned in the one of the worst maritime disasters since the end of World War Two
Tragedy: The coast guard ship Gregoretti dropped off the bodies early Monday and was continuing on to Sicily with 28 survivors of this weekend's shipwreck near the Libyan coast that may have claimed as many as 900 lives
Politicians and charities have also attacked EU states for supporting Italy's controversial decision to stop search and rescue operations last year which they blame for contributing to a such a high number of deaths.
Mr Muscat said survivors spoke of 'haunting experiences.'
Italian media said a 32-year-old Bangladeshi brought by helicopter to hospital in Sicily told police there had been 950 passengers on the boat, which sank when people on board rushed to one side to attract attention from a passing merchant ship.
'There were also 200 women and 50 children with us. Many were shut in the hold. They died like rats in a cage,' he was reported as saying by La Sicilia.
He also told La Repubblica: 'Me and others survived because we were on the deck, others drowned and many others were prisoners in the hold of the boat because the traffickers closed the portholes to stop them from coming out and they have finished at the bottom of the sea.'
He has been interviewed by prosecutors and is currently being treated in a hospital.
The small numbers of survivors make more sense if hundreds of people were locked in the hold, because with so much weight down below, 'surely the boat would have sunk,' said General Antonino Iraso, of the Italian Border Police, which has deployed boats in the operation.
An international aid agency spokeswoman has compared the scale of deaths in recent shipwrecks to the death toll in the sinking of the Titanic luxury liner more than a century ago.
Sarah Tyler, a spokeswoman for Save the Children in Catania, Sicily, said more than 1,000 people have died in the waters of the Mediterranean in recent weeks.
He added: 'That is almost as many as died in the Titanic, and 31 times the number who died when the Costa Concordia sank.'
Rescuers recovered 24 bodies from the sea following the disaster, which took place off Libyan waters, south of the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, shortly after midnight on Sunday.
Francesco Gallo, an officer on board the Guardia Finanza police boat Monte Sperone, told of the harrowing moment he picked up the lifeless body of a small boy.
The lucky few: Some of the 24 survivors of the disaster sit on the deck of the Italian Coast Guard vessel Bruno Gregoretti at Boiler Wharf, Senglea in Malta, before being taken to Sicily
Traumatised: Migrant survivors lie on the deck of Italian coastguard ship Bruno Gregoretti in Senglea, in Valletta's Grand Harbour in Malta
Relief and despair: Rescuers recovered 24 bodies from the sea following the disaster, which took place off Libyan waters, south of the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, shortly after midnight on Sunday
The infra-red camera shows rescuers trying to locate survivors in the water. It is thought the boat, heading towards Malta, capsized when passengers moved to one side of the vessel which lead it to overturn
Rescuers say they saw large fuel stains and life jackets floating in the water as they hunted for survivors
Authorities say there is no immediate way of knowing exactly how many people were on board, but it is thought there could have been 950 migrants. It is possible many of the bodies will never be recovered
Route of death: How a journey for hundreds of migrants began in Egypt and ended at the bottom of the Mediterranean sea
He told Corriere della Sera: 'We approached in the rubber dinghy and in my heart I prayed that he was alive, but the hope died soon after.
'He was a little black boy. He would have been about ten. I held him in my arms as if he were my own son.
'We are afraid to think about what we will find underneath us.'
The ship's captain Paolo Zottola said his team would not stop until they have found everyone - dead or alive.
He said: 'It's a hard job, our job, but we have to do it. Unfortunately we can't work miracles. But you never get used to the pain.'
He added: 'With the water temperature so cold at midnight they wouldn't have survived more than half and hour'.
Meanwhile, about 100 migrants rescued by a different merchant vessel in a separate operation were being brought to the Sicilian port of Pozzallo late Sunday night, authorities said.
The tragedy also comes just days after another shipwreck in the area claimed 400 lives.
It is thought both boats capsized after those on board rushed to one side to signal to passing merchant ships.
Mr Muscat said the incident was further evidence that Italy and Malta need more support in dealing with the migrant crisis.
'A time will come when Europe will be judged harshly for its inaction as it was judged when it had turned a blind eye to genocide', he said.
'They are literally trying to find people alive among the dead floating in the water. This could possibly be the biggest tragedy to have ever taken place in the Mediterranean.'
Foreign ministers have added the issue of migrants to the agenda of a European Union meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.
'Europe can do more and Europe must do more,' said Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament.
'It is a shame and a confession of failure how many countries run away from responsibility and how little money we provide for rescue missions.'
The Italian Coast Guard (pictured) coordinated the rescue operation, now involving dozens of navy and merchant vessels from Italy and Malta. Just 28 people saved were saved on Sunday by rescuers
Personnel at work in the operations room of the Italian Coast Guard in Rome, who are coordinating efforts to try to find survivors of the tragedy. It is thought to have been one of the worst maritime disasters since WWII
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the latest incident shows the UK needs to change its stance.
'The British Government must immediately reverse its opposition to EU search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean, as the EU needs to restart the rescue as soon as possible', she said.
'It is immoral to turn our backs and leave people to drown in order to deter other desperate travellers - and of course it hasn't worked.
'Since the operations were cancelled even more people have tried to cross the Mediterranean, and thousands have died.
'The EU should do the basic, humanitarian thing and rescue those in peril on the sea.'
In safe hands: In a separate rescue operation, around 100 migrants including women and babies were brought to the Sicilian port of Pozzallo late on Sunday night, authorities said
Politicians across the continent are now urging countries to work together to stop future tragedies taking place, as more and more people risk their lives in the hands of people traffickers to come to Europe
More migrants arrive at Pozzallo harbour in Sicily. One of the survivors of the disaster said there were 950 people on board the smuggler boat when it sank, including 300 people who were locked in the ship's hold
The warm weather has also tempted tens of thousands of migrants in the past week alone to attempt the crossing. These migrants arrived safely on a boat to Pozzallo, but hundreds have died on smuggler boat
Last October, Britain and other EU nations backed Italy's decision to scale back the migrant patrol operation, replacing it with a much more limited EU 'border operation' plan,
This operates within just 30 miles of the coast and does not conduct search and rescue missions,
Italy claimed the presence of rescue ships was encouraging migrants to attempt the crossing.
Yet their new policy does not seem to be deterring migrants.
Last week alone 10,000 were rescued by the Italian navy - an unprecedented number.
Charities Amnesty International and Save The Children joined the calls for search and rescue operations to be reinstated.
And Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi said he had asked for an urgent meeting of EU leaders, adding: 'Italy asks not to be left on its own'.
'The trafficking of migrants amounted to 'a new slave trade'. We must all fight against human traffickers that are the slavers of the 21st century, he added.
'We are not talking about statistics but our brothers and sisters and of human lives.'
A picture made available by German shipping company Opielok Offshore Carriers on Monday, April 20, shows a boat with migrants close to the cargo ship OOC Jaguar in the Mediterranean sea before they were rescued on April 12. The company has rescued more than 1,500 people in the Mediterranean sea since December
Safe: Migrants huddle on board a ship run by the German shipping company Opielok Offshore Carriers after being rescue from the Mediterranean on April 12
Dozens of migrants are hauled on board the OOC Cougar cargo ship in the Mediterranean sea after being rescued in a separate operation on February 5
Growing numbers of Africans have been setting off on ill-fated voyages to Europe from Libya and the country's coastlines has become a prime target for people-smugglers.
The warm weather has also tempted tens of thousands of migrants in the past week alone to attempt the crossing.
The boat in the latest tragedy set off from Libya on Saturday and sent out a distress signal shortly before midnight 120 miles south of the Italian island of Lampedusa.
The boat initially set off from Egypt and then stopped off on the Libyan coast near the city Zuwarah to pick up more passengers, it reported.
The Coast Guard said there was no immediate way of finding out exactly how many passengers were on the boat or how many might still be rescued, but authorities fear there could have been as many as 950 migrants on board according to Italian news agency ANSA.
General Antonino Iraso of the Italian Guardia Finanza police, which is involved in the rescue attempt, said that if the numbers were confirmed it would be the worst shipping disaster since the Second World War.
Prime Minister of Italy (right) Matteo Renzi has asked for an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders after the incident. 'Italy asks not to be left on its own' he said as he described the trafficking of people as a 'slave trade'
Pope Francis led tributes to the victims of the disaster. He expressed his 'deepest pain' at the tragedy and urged the international community to take action to stop migrants dying as they try to reach Europe
FARAGE: 'BRITAIN SHOULD ONLY LET IN CHRISTIANS FLEEING LIBYA'
Ukip leader Nigel Farage said the UK should only accept Christian refugees
Nigel Farage today claimed Britain should only accept refugees who are Christian.
The Ukip leader risked being accused of discriminating on the basis of religion, as he suggested living in Libya is now 'virtually impossible' for Christians.
He also claimed David Cameron and Nicolas Sarkozy's 'fanaticism' in bombing Libya directly caused the problem of migrant tragedies at sea.
Mr Farage said the 2011 military action completely destabilised the north African country and turned it into a place of 'much savagery'.
The Ukip leader was challenged over whether his anti-EU stance was at odds with the need for a pan-European solution to the crisis of refugees fleeing north Africa.
But he told BBC1's Sunday Politics: 'It's the European response that caused this problem in the first place.
'The fanaticism of (former French president) Sarkozy and (Prime Minister) Cameron to bomb Libya ... what they've done is to completely destabilise Libya, to turn it into a country with much savagery, to turn it into a place where for Christians the situation is now virtually impossible. We ought to be honest and say we have directly caused this problem.'
Asked if no migrants attempted to enter Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea before military action in Libya, Mr Farage said:
'There were no migrants coming across from Libya in these quantities before we bombed the country, got rid of (then Libyan leader Muammar) Gaddafi - however bad he may have been - and destabilised the whole situation, of that I have no doubt.
'But I'm the one person who has said that I do think, especially for Christians in that part of the world, they now have almost nowhere to go.
'I have not got a problem with us offering refugee status to some Christians from those countries.'
A rescuer said one of their first discoveries was the body of a boy, no older than 15, who was discovered face down in a pool of oil.
'The boy was one of the first that we recovered, face down in a pool of oil', they said on Sunday.
'We have not found anything since 10am this morning. There's only oil and debris.'
Given that the sea is as deep as 3 miles (5 kilometres) or more in the area, it is possible that many bodies will never be recovered, as was the case in similar tragedies off the coasts of Libya, Italy, and other Mediterranean nations in recent years.
Pope Francis held a moment of prayer for the victims. He said: 'A boat packed with migrants capsized 70 miles off the coast of Libya. They fear hundreds of victims.
'I express my deepest pain in the face of the tragedy. I appeal to the international community to act quickly and decisively to avoid repeating similar tragedies.
'They are men and women like us, our brothers who search for a better life, persecuted, injured, exploited, victims of war, searching for a better life, searching for happiness.'
The UN has now called for EU countries to do more, with refugee agency UNHCR spokesman Carlotta Sami urging the creation of a European version of the Mare Nostrum search and rescue mission.
She said: 'We need a European Mare Nostrum to combat the tragedies of the immigrants in the sea. We have asked for one for more than a year and we have not had an answer.
'If the numbers of the tragedy are confirmed the total number of people who have died in the Mediterranean in the last ten days will be more than 1,000.'
'Today's is a tragedy of enormous proportions, a catastrophe on a scale never seen before in the Mediterranean which confirms the necessity of a European intervention to put in place adequate rescue measures.'
'We are shocked because in the past two days we have seen events of a brutality that we have never seen before. There has been a leap in the cruelty on the part of the traffickers.'
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said 'the current arrangements are clearly leading to these tragic consequence'.
But he insisted that 'cure' lay not at sea but in dealing with the reasons why people are seeking refuge.
Foreign secretary Phillip Hammond said an international 'co-ordinated response' was needed, adding: 'We must target the traffickers who are responsible for so many people dying at sea and prevent their innocent victims from being tricked or forced into making these perilous journeys.'
The Home Office declined to comment last night.
The fishing vessel involved in today's disaster had send out an emergency call after having trouble with steering the vessel, and a Portuguese merchant ship arrived at the scene.
As it approached, dozens of people moved from one side of the vessel to the other, and it capsized, Italian news bureau Ansa reports.
Loris De Filippi of Medecins Sans Frontieres said EU states were culpable for the tragedy. He said: 'A mass grave is being created in the Mediterranean Sea and European policies are responsible.
'Faced with thousands of desperate people fleeing wars and crises, Europe has closed borders, forcing people in search of protection to risk their lives and die at sea.
He said the number of casualties was comparable to 'a warzone'.
'European States must immediately launch large-scale search and rescue operations, with proactive patrolling as close as possible to Libyan shores.
'The current means are obviously not enough. This tragedy is only just beginning, but it can and should be stopped.'
So far, 10,000 migrants have been rescued by the Italian coast guard, navy and merchant vessels this week - an unprecedented number.
The influx of migrants, mainly from Africa attempting to cross the sea from Libya, is putting pressure on Italy's shelter system and raising calls for a better response to the emergency.
Italy has arrested 976 traffickers since its search and rescue operations began.
Yesterday, the International Organization for Migration said the rate of migrant and refugee deaths this year is ten times higher than in 2014, even though the number of those who made it across safely is about the same.
The agency put arrivals so far this year in Italy through Thursday at 21,191. That compares with 26,644 for the first four months of last year.
'This is unacceptable,' said Federico Soda, director of the IOM coordination office for the Mediterranean, calling for more intensive search and rescue efforts. 'This is a humanitarian emergency that involves us all.'
Greece, the EU's second-biggest gateway for migrants after Italy, appealed to its European Union partners Friday for more help in policing its sea borders as immigrants increasingly make dangerous journeys to escape war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa.
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