Italy's border and finance police Guardia di Finanza yesterday rescued some 300 migrants off an overcrowded vessel some 30 nautical miles from the coast of Libya.

As the rescue operations commenced, officers could be seen seeking to maintain calm among the migrants while also advising their own captain to go slowly near the boat, which was heaving under its heavy load.

Several migrants could be seen in the boat's hold through open trap doors is it was escorted towards the police vessel Di Bartolo. Some could be seen fanning themselves with pieces of cardboard.

According to the police, the group included more than 40 women, two of them pregnant, as well as six children. The migrants were said to be of east African origin, mainly Eritrean, while one man aboard the vessel said he was a Moroccan citizen.

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