10,000 migrants rescued from Mediterranean in four days

Nearly 10,000 migrants have been rescued from boats travelling across the Mediterranean to Italy in the past four days alone, the Italian Coast Guard has revealed.

Since the weekend, thousands of people have tried to make the journey, with official estimates suggesting at least 31,500 migrants have entered Italy and Greece since the start of the year as increasing governmental instability and violence in Africa has prompted a surge in numbers fleeing to Europe.

Another 900 are believed to have drowned on the crossing, including 400 people aboard a boat which capsized on Monday.

The UN has called for a more robust search and rescue mission to be set up in the Mediterranean as it claims the European Union's border protection operation, Triton, is struggling to cope.