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10,000 migrants rescued from Mediterranean in just 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.

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.

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41 more migrants feared drowned in new shipwreck

Another 41 migrants are feared to have drowned in the Mediterranean in another shipwreck, according to the International Organisation for Migrants.

The IOM, an aid agency based in Geneva, said that four survivors reported the disaster when they arrived in the Italian port of Tripani today.

The four migrants were found floating in the sea by a helicopter and were rescued by the Italian Naval ship Foscari. They said left Tripoli in Libya on Saturday, and managed to stay adrift for four days.

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