A British Navy warship has taken ashore hundreds of migrants who were trying to make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea.
HMS Bulwark was carrying 741 people - including dozens of young children - rescued from overcrowded, rickety vessels.
Crew members helped them ashore in the coastal city of Taranto, in southern Italy, on Saturday morning.
More than 360 of the migrants were plucked to safety when crew spotted an overloaded, wooden craft trying to cross waters north of Libya on Thursday.
HMS Bulwark's Commanding Officer Captain Nick Cooke-Priest said he was sure the migrants would have died without help.
He said some of the children were "horrifyingly young".
On Friday, Italian, German and Irish naval ships rescued a total of 4,200 migrants in the Mediterranean, but also found 17 bodies on the vessels.
Distress calls were made from 22 migrant boats, many off Libya but also off the southern Italian coast.
It was one of the largest numbers of people rescued in a single day in recent years.
So far, the busiest days this year have been the rescue of 3,791 migrants on 12 April and 3,690 on 2 May.
The 17 bodies were found on three dinghies, from which more than 300 migrants were rescued alive, the Italian navy said on Twitter.
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