The Italian rescue organization Emergency said that it had picked up 105 migrants from an inflatable dinghy found drifting without power in international waters off the Libyan coast in the early hours of Tuesday.
The migrants included a woman seven months pregnant and 29 minors, 25 of them unaccompanied, Emergency tweeted. It said its Life Support vessel had been assigned the south-eastern Italian port of Brindisi as a place of safety. It is expected to dock on Friday.
The 12-metre dinghy "had serious structural problems and was taking on water," Emergency's Emanuele Nannini said in a statement. "An extremely dangerous situation for navigation and for the 105 people onboard. Moreover, the sea conditions were worsening," she added.
Nannini compared the situation to the shipwreck off the Italian southern coast more than a week ago. The confirmed death toll in that disaster rose to 71 after rescue workers found the body of a three-year-old girl in the sea off the seaside resort of Steccato di Cutro.
Around 80 people survived the shipwreck, but others remain missing.
