Sub-Saharan migrants crowd a rubber boat as they are rescued by members of Proactive Open Arms NGO, in the Mediterranean Sea, about 22 miles north of Zumarah, Libya.

Italy's coast guard, meanwhile, says it picked up about 1,000 migrants.

Italy's coast guard said that it had rescued about 1,000 migrants from leaky boats in the Mediterranean; one person was found dead, Voice of America reported.

Officials said the migrants were found on nine different boats — six of them inflatable and three wooden. 

Most migrants crossing the sea from Libya to Italy come from Africa or the Middle East, usually paying people-smugglers for the sea passage.

The United Nations says more than 5,000 people died last year trying to cross the Mediterranean.

Source: MENA