Nearly 500 migrants rescued on the Mediterranean Sea

Rescue workers saved 484 refugees from Mediterranean boats.

So far, over 45,000 immigrants have reached Italy this year. That is a growth of 40 percent compared to a year earlier. Most of the refugees are from Libya. They are being shot by old smugglers on old vessels towards the Italian island of Lampedusa or the mainland.

Since the beginning of this year, more than 12,000 migrants have already died in the Mediterranean.