EU leaders gathering in Brussels are to consider launching a military operation against human traffickers in Libya in the biggest effort yet to halt the deadly flow of refugees trying to reach Europe by sea.

As survivors lay bare the full horror of last weekend's catastrophic shipwreck near Libya, EU officials are paving the way for the approval of unprecedented action to ease their plight.

In the draft statement for Thursday's summit seen by AFP, leaders will commit to "undertake systematic efforts to identify, capture and destroy vessels before they are used by traffickers."

The EU's top diplomat Federica Mogherini "is invited to immediately begin preparations for a possible security and defence policy operation to this effect, in accordance with international law," the draft added.

A diplomatic source said EU members were preparing to approve the statement, reflecting the union's readiness to take bolder action against people smugglers, who pack rickety boats to overflowing with people fleeing conflict and hardship in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on Monday evoked the possibility of "targeted interventions" against the Libya-based smugglers that would fall short of a full military intervention.

If approved, the operation would be the first time EU governments used military force to fight illegal migration.

"It's implementation would take time. It's complicated," a diplomatic source warned.
EU leaders go into Thursday's summit under huge pressure to both check the tide of migrants landing on European shores and provide greater succour to those whose boats run into trouble at sea.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday contrasted his country's hosting of two million refugees from Syria with the EU's approach of "letting the boats sink and leaving them to their deaths".

Erdogan's remarks came three days after an estimated 800 migrants bound for Italy drowned when their boat capsized after setting sail from Libya.

The vast majority of the victims were locked in the hold or the middle deck of the 20-metre (66-foot) converted fishing boat when it collided with a Portuguese cargo ship responding to its distress signal.

One of the 28 survivors described nightmarish conditions on board

"Those who had the least money were stuffed into the hold at the bottom, and locked inside," a Bangladeshi teenager identified as Abdirizzak told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.

When the first collision happened in pitch darkness, scenes of pure terror ensued.
"Everyone was screaming, pushing, punching, elbowing -- terrified. From below we could hear those who were locked in shouting 'Help, Help!'"

Prosecutors in the Sicilian city of Catania said they had asked a judge to charge the boat's Tunisian captain with illegal confinement as well as culpable homicide, causing a shipwreck and aiding illegal immigration.

The skipper, Mohammed Ali Malek, 27, is alleged to have been drinking and smoking hashish while steering the boat. A Syrian crew member Mahmud Bikhit, 25, is also in custody.

The exact number of victims may never be known as the wreck sank in one of the deepest parts of the Mediterranean.