Baku, April 19, AZERTAC
Hundreds of people are feared to have drowned after a boat carrying up to 700 migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea.
A major rescue operation is under way after the vessel carrying migrants capsized at midnight local time, in Libyan waters south of the Italian island of Lampedusa.
So far 28 people have been rescued.
Since the start of the year, at least 900 other migrants are thought to have died crossing the Mediterranean Sea.
In the past week alone, Italy`s coastguard rescued 10,000 migrants whose vessels ran into trouble.
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi called for an emergency meeting at Palazzo Chigi with top government ministers, including foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni, on Sunday to discuss the crisis. The EU commission for migration, Dimitris Avramopoulos, is in Italy.