The inflatable appeared to be taking on water and some start jumping into the sea as life vests and life rings are thrown down.
16:27, UK,Tuesday 05 May 2015
Footage has emerged showing desperate migrants on an overcrowded rubber dinghy trying to get on to a ship which came to its rescue in the Mediterranean.
The inflatable looked like it was taking on water and some started jumping into the sea as life vests and life rings were thrown down from the commercial vessel Zeran next to it.
Two of those wearing the rings struggled to get close to the vessel as the current appeared to be pulling them away.
The dinghy was packed with dozens of people and some take it in turns to try to get water out using plastic blue containers, emptying them over the sides.
A rope ladder is thrown down as a few clamber to get climb up from the sea.
One migrant in the two-minute video was frisked by crew members before being allowed to continue.
The footage was filmed by someone on board the Zeran and the incident is believed to have happened on Sunday in the sea between Libya and the Italian island of Sicily.
Over three days from last Friday to Sunday, the Italian coastguard rescued several thousand migrants in the Mediterranean.
It came after smugglers in Libya took advantage of calm seas and warm weather to send many of them out into the sea in overloaded rubber boats and fishing vessels.
In one incident, around 40 people are feared to have drowned after falling out of a rubber boat in the latest tragedy in the Mediterranean.
The inflatable, carrying more than 100 migrants, sank between Libya and Sicily on Sunday, according to survivors.
The tragedy happened when a commercial vessel approached to rescue the boat, it was reported.
According to the charity Save The Children, survivors who have now arrived in Catania, Sicily, said the inflatable boat deflated or exploded.
Then dozens of their fellow passengers fell into the water, could not swim and drowned.
Save the Children's Giovanna di Benedetto said some survivors claimed "very many" died, while others put the number of dead at "around 40".
Last month, up to 900 migrants drowned when their boat capsized off Libya with hundreds of passengers thought to have been locked in the hold by smugglers.
A few days earlier, a further 400 people were feared drowned in another capsizing.
After the deaths, the European Union held an emergency summit and agreed to contribute more boats and patrol aircraft to Mediterranean rescue efforts.
EU chiefs also want to push for a UN resolution that would allow them to destroy vessels used by traffickers before they attempt to smuggle migrants across the water.
More than 1,750 people are estimated to have died in the waters between Libya and Italy since the start of this year.
