5-thousand migrants from Libya have been rescued in the past four days as they attempted to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

On Thursday, British, Maltese, Belgian and Italian vessels were among those deployed in an EU operation called Triton.

The Irish LE Eithne rescued 400 migrants, while German and Danish vessels were also involved.

The bodies of 17 people were recovered by rescue divers on Saturday.

Ireland South MEP Deirdre Clune has described the situation as tragic and has called for immediate EU wide action.