Humanitarian ships rescued almost 1,200 migrants who were crossing the Mediterranean Sea over the weekend on an array of small, tightly packed boats, Doctors Without Borders said on Sunday.

A young woman was found unconscious on one of the vessels and later died, the group said.

Some 412 people were crammed onto a single wooden boat, while the others were picked up from huge inflatable dinghies, which had set sail from the coast of Libya.