ROME: Nearly 2,000 migrants and two corpses have been recovered from people smugglers’ boats off Libya since Tuesday, Italy’s coast guard said Wednesday.

Further rescue operations were ongoing, a spokesman told AFP.

The figures represent a pick-up in the flow of migrants attempting to reach Italy via Libya, a route through which around 330,000 people have made it to Europe since the start of 2014.

Prior to the latest rescues, the UN refugee agency had reported 9,500 landing at Italian ports since the start of the year. This compares with more than 143,000 who have reached Greek islands by crossing the Aegean Sea since Jan. 1. With efforts underway to close the entry route through Greece, Italian authorities are wary of a surge in the number of migrants attempting to come through Libya.