(VOVworld) - Around 2,000 migrants were saved off the coast of Libya in the latest series of rescue operations in the Mediterranean on Thursday.

People being helped to board an Italian Navy ship after a boat overturned off the Libyan coast. (Photo: AP)

The Italian coastguard said the migrants were rescued in 15 operations and that Italian navy vessels and ships from the EU’s Frontex border agency and its Sophia military operation helped with the efforts. More than 800 migrants had already been rescued off Libya on Wednesday, mainly by vessels chartered by aid groups.