Almost six thousand migrants desperate to reach Europe have been rescued this weekend as they tried to cross the Mediterranean on rickety boats.

The Italian coastguard says five thousand-800 people were rescued, one of the highest recorded in recent years.

It raises fears that the tide of people risking their lives to reach Europe from Africa and the Middle East has not been slowed by recent disasters.

On April 12 and 13, more than six thousand people were rescued, while almost three-thousand-700 were rescued on Saturday and another two-thousand 150 yesterday.

Ten migrants died.