ACTIVISTS accused the EU-supported Libyan Coastguard today of endangering the lives of refugees during a challenging night-time rescue operation in the central Mediterranean.

The rescue ships Louise Michel and Humanity 1 were alerted to a boat in distress late on Monday night by distress hotline organisation Alarm Phone.

The crew of the Louise Michel, the smaller of the two ships, arrived on the scene first and found 49 people crammed inside a two-storey wooden boat.

The Humanity 1 arrived an hour later and the two crews worked together to transfer the 49 safely onto the larger vessel.

SOS Humanity, the organisation which operates the Humanity 1, said: “The presence of the so-called Libyan Coastguard added further tension. Their boat circumnavigated the rescue situation but did not intervene.

“After the rescue was completed, they set fire to the empty wooden boat.”

In another operation this morning, their third since Sunday, both ships saved the lives of more than 100 people.

The Humanity 1 is now providing temporary shelter to at least 250 people.

The Geo Barents, another rescue ship operated by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), is carrying 254 survivors.