Two humanitarian rescue ships pulled 394 migrants from a dangerously overcrowded wooden boat in the Mediterranean overnight on Sunday in an operation lasting about six hours, a Reuters witness said.
The German and French NGO ships Sea-Watch 3 and Ocean Viking rescued the migrants in Tunisian waters 68km from the North African coast.
Sea-Watch 3, which assumed command of the operation, took 141 of the survivors while Ocean Viking took the rest. The yacht Nadir, from the German NGO ResQ Ship, later gave support.
The craft was taking in water and its engine was not working, the witness said.
Migrant boat departures from Libya and Tunisia to Italy and other parts of Europe have increased in recent months as weather conditions have improved. The migrants were mainly men from Morocco, Bangladesh, Egypt and Syria.
