MSF Ship Saves Over 1,000 Migrants in Mediterranean Sea

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the MSF Twitter account, the Argos crew rescued those traveling on five rubber boats early on Thursday.

​According to the organization, a few of its rescue boats in the area, and many rubber boats nearby the Argos ship will keep conducting rescue operations "until there is no space on board."

The MSF rescue mission in the Mediterranean Sea was launched last year in the aftermath of the April 19 tragedy, when a vessel used by smugglers capsized off the Libyan coast, killing an estimated 700 migrants. The Bourbon Argos has been conducting search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean since May 2015.

Since 2015, Europe has faced a massive influx of migrants and refugees. According to the latest data by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), over 214,00 migrants arrived in Europe so far in 2016, the majority of them having taken the dangerous sea route. A total of 2,856 other migrants were killed or went missing in attempts to cross the Mediterranean Sea.