ROME (AFP) - Italy has rescued about 4,000 immigrants trying to cross the Mediterranean by boats to reach its shores in the past two days, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said Wednesday, calling the crisis "increasingly glaring".

"The landings are non-stop and the emergency is increasingly glaring. Right now two merchant ships are rescuing two boats with 300 and 361 people aboard. It appears there's at least one corpse on board," he told public radio Rai Uno, estimating the number of rescued migrants so far this year at 15,000.