Italy has renewed its appeal to the EU for help in managing a relentless wave of migrant arrivals, after around 40 migrants died when their inflatable boat sank off the coast.
Survivors of the tragedy on Tuesday reported 137 people were on the vessel when it either deflated or exploded, shortly before a spate of rescue operations this weekend that saw the Italian navy and coastguard save almost 6000 people on the sea.
"Some (of the survivors from the inflatable boat) said 'very many' died, others said 'around 40'", Giovanna di Benedetto of Save the Children said.
Dramatic footage that was widely shared on Tuesday on social networks showed dozens of mostly African migrants struggling to stay afloat after jumping off their sinking dinghy, desperately clinging to lifebuoys thrown from the deck of a cargo ship that came to their rescue.
Italian leaders anticipate a record number of arrivals on their southern shores between now and September, with last year's total of 170,000 already an unprecedented number.
Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni demanded the European Union help in the fight against human trafficking and make reforms to the process of granting asylum to migrants.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will brief the UN Security Council on the issue next week as the 15-member body holds a special meeting to discuss ways to address the crisis.
More than 1750 migrants have perished in the waters between Libya and Italy since the start of this year.
The International Organisation for Migration reported last month that the toll represented a 30-fold increase over 2014.
Gentiloni said on Monday that promises made at April's EU summit after a migrant boat disaster left 750 dead had to be honoured.
"A European emergency cannot continue to have only Italian responses," he added.
The survivors were part of a group of close to 200 migrants who were on two separate boats and were rescued in recent days in waters off Sicily.
The survivors arrived on Tuesday in Catania on the east coast of Sicily, on the cargo ship Zeran, which also carried five bodies.
Despite Italy shouldering so much of the rescue effort, and amid calls for Europe to adopt Australia's policy of turning back migrant boats, an Italian navy chief on Tuesday said he would never turn away a boat in need of help.
Admiral Donato Marzano suggested it would not be feasible, morally or practically, to start escorting barely-seaworthy migrant boats back to conflict-wracked Libya.
"I am a sailor who has spent 20 years on boats. If I find a boat adrift, I'm sorry but I don't turn away," Marzano said.
"I intervene to help people at sea. I don't know if this reflects my Italian culture but I do know it is international law."
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