Two migrants were found dead and more than 1,150 were rescued off Sicily, the coast guard said on Wednesday, as the new nationalist government in Rome threatened to prevent two refugee boats run by charities from entering Italian waters.
The coast guard said 663 people and two bodies were picked up from a boat around 60 miles off Sicily, and 494 others were rescued from another fishing boat closer to the island.
The operations were carried out by the coast guard, the financial police and a Spanish vessel working for European Union border agency Frontex.
