Up to 100 feared dead as migrant boat capsizes off Libya coast

About 100 migrants are missing and feared dead after their boat capsized off Libya's coast.

Four survivors have been rescued and eight bodies recovered, officials coordinating the rescue effort said.

The Italian coast guard said the boat overturned about 30 miles (50 kilometres) off Libya's coast.

French and Italian naval and merchant vessels as well as a plane and a helicopter were involved in rescue operations, a coast guard spokesman said.

But poor conditions were hampering the search.

The boat was believed to have carried 110 people, said Flavio di Giacomo, a spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said.

In the previous 24 hours, coast guard and naval ships as well as privately-owned vessels had saved around 750 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean aboard rickety boats.

At least five people died.

A record 181,000 boat migrants, mostly from Africa, reached Italy in 2016, according to government figures.

The vast majority of migrant ships set off from Libya's lawless coasts, where smugglers operate with impunity.

Last year was also the deadliest on record for migrants in the Mediterranean, with almost 5,000 deaths, according to the IOM.