More migrant tragedy in the Mediterranean with the second shipwreck in two days of an overloaded boat carrying migrants from Africa.
A rescue operation was mounted to try and save as many of the 400 people reportedly crammed into the boat as possible as it began sinking off the coast of the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, roughly halfway between the Tunisian coast and Sicily.
At least seven migrants were reported dead as the numbers of people seeking refuge in Europe accelerates. Some 25,000 migrants have arrived on Italian soil since the start of 2014.
On Sunday at least 40 died and 51 people were rescued after a boat carrying migrants capsized in the waters off the Libyan city of Tripoli.
