Coastguards have now taken control of a cargo ship stranded with hundreds of migrants in the Mediterranean Sea.

The crew abandoned the vessel after setting it on a collision course with the southern coast of Italy, but it ran out of fuel.

450 migrants are thought to be on board the ship, which is flagged to Sierra Leone.

Three coastguards have boarded the vessel by helicopter, and will take it into port.

900 mostly Syrian refugees were rescued on Wednesday after also being abandoned on a ship near Italy.