ROME: The Italian coast guard said Monday it recovered nine bodies after a boat with over 150 migrants aboard sank off Libya during a surge in attempted illegal crossings to Europe that saw almost 6,000 migrants rescued.

Rescuers managed to save 144 of the migrants from the latest capsized vessel and were still searching for others some 150 km off the Libyan coast. The total number of passengers on the boat and their nationalities was not yet known.

On Sunday alone the Italian coast guard rescued a total of 3,791 migrants, bringing the total to 5,629 since Friday, authorities said.

Recent good weather in the Mediterranean has prompted a surge in the number of migrants setting off for Italy aboard boats. As a result at least 10 rescue operations were underway.

A coast guard member said the 5,629 migrants rescued was not a record, but the number was very high for the month of April.

Tunisia’s coast guard and navy on Monday also rescued 174 migrants from two boats which broke down as they headed from Libya to Italy.

The Red Crescent said the migrants — 90 on one boat and 84 on the other — sent out a distress call from off the coast of southeast Tunisia as they headed for Lampedusa.