Slideshow (14 images) Rescue operations were continuing, an Italian coast guard spokesman said.

The Italian coast guard rescued survivors and had recovered eight bodies so far, he said.

Italian coast guard and Maltese government officials said a search and rescue operation is under way.

The Italian coast guard said it had rescued 378 migrants in two separate operations on Saturday.

An Italian Coast Guard vessel rescued 60 Syrian refugees drifting on a dinghy between Greece and Turkey.

Two Italian coast guard cutters brought the group to the port of Santa Maria di Leuca in Puglia.

An Italian coast guard ship, the Dattilo, was the first to enter the port of Valencia soon after dawn.

Commader Filippo Marini of the Italian coast guard said the rescue operation was still ongoing and now involved seven ships.

Two Italian coast guard ships, a finance police boat and a navy ship had been sent to assist, he said.

A rescue mission after Monday's collision was being coordinated by the Maltese coast guard, an Italian coast guard spokesman said.

The toddler was plucked from a rickety boat by Italian coast guard in November 2016 and handed into state care.

The Italian Coast Guard managed to rescue 155 survivors but more than 360 migrants drowned.

The 66-foot boat was overloaded with migrants from Eritrea, Ghana and Somalia, an Italian coast guard spokesman told the Associated Press.

The Italian coast guard has reported a sharp increase in the number of would-be immigrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to Italy.

The Italian coast guard rescued 144 people on Monday and immediately launched an air and sea search operation in hopes of rescuing others.

The Barcelona-based NGO Open Arms said that 27 minors who had been authorized to leave the ship disembarked onto Italian coast guard boats.