The German frigate "Hessen" rescued 880 migrants from the waters off the coast of Libya yesterday.

The frigate is part of the enlarged Triton operation agreed by the European Union following the suspected deaths of some 800 migrants in a shipwreck in April.

The migrants, including 118 women and 27 children, were aboard six boats. Some were rescued while they were in the water struggling to stay afloat with their life vests.

The rescue was conducted around 30 nautical miles northwest of the Libyan city of Abu Kammash, not far off the Tunisian coast. 

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