Hundreds feared dead after migrant boat capsizes near Libya

Hundreds of migrants attempting to reach Europe are believed to have drowned after their boat capsized off the coast of Libya.

The Italian coastguard launched an air and sea search operation, rescuing 144 people, including babies. Many of the survivors were "young men, probably minors" and fleeing conflict in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the charity Save the Children.

"A 17-year-old Nigerian whose brother was killed by Muslim fundamentalists told me he was tortured with electric shocks by traffickers because he didn't have money to travel," a charity worker told The Times. "Many are now talking about fleeing fundamentalists."

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The latest tragedy adds to the "skyrocketing" number of people killed trying to cross the Mediterranean from Africa, Al Jazeera reports. The UN says the coastguard has rescued 8,500 migrants and refugees in the Mediterranean since Friday. They are being provided with medical checks, food and clothes by Italian police and charity workers.

A total of 3,500 people perished trying to cross the Mediterranean last year, making it one of the most dangerous sea crossings in the world. More than 200,000 people were rescued during the same period, in what the head of the Italian navy describes as a "biblical exodus".

"The unprecedented influx of migrants at our borders, and in particular refugees, is unfortunately the new norm and we will need to adjust our responses accordingly," the EU's commissioner for migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, told the BBC.

In a separate incident, the EU border control agency Frontex said shots were fired by human traffickers who wanted to stop their boast from being seized after rescuers saved 250 people off the coast of Libya. This is the second time this year rescuers have faced armed smugglers, marking an escalation in violence in the Mediterranean.

"This is a sign that smugglers in Libya are running short of boats and are more willing to use weapons to recover those used to transport the migrants," said Fabrice Leggeri, the head of Frontex.