Migrants threaten to kill crew

African migrants threatened to kill the crew of an Italian cargo vessel that had rescued them in the Mediterranean, in an attempt to avoid being returned to detention centres in Libya.

The Italian coastguard picked up the migrants after receiving a call for help from the ship. They were being taken yesterday to Italy where the ringleaders will be questioned by police over the incident.

The mutiny on the Vos Thalassa marked an escalation in problems in the Mediterranean after Italy’s new populist government refused entry to migrants picked up by charity boats and handed over rescue responsibilities to the Libyan coastguard.

The incident has raised new concerns for merchant sailors who face a difficult dilemma because it is illegal under international maritime law to refuse help to anyone in trouble at sea.

The 67 sub-Saharan migrants, including three women and six children, were spotted in a dinghy on Monday by the crew about 95 kilometres off Libya.

After hauling them on board the captain asked the Libyan coastguard to pick them up, prompting an angry reaction from some of the migrants, who had hoped to be sent to Italy.

‘‘Death threats were made and some of the 12 crew members were pushed,’’ a spokesman at Italy’s transport ministry said. ‘‘It turned from a rescue to piracy.’’

As a Libyan coastguard boat approached, the migrants became more aggressive and the crew turned for help from the Italian coastguard, which dispatched a vessel given the ‘‘grave danger’’ that the crew was in.

Officials were ‘‘identifying those responsible for the disorder in order to hand them over to Italian investigators,’’ a coastguard statement added.

Charity rescue ships that had been patrolling the area are now absent after Italy denied them entry to its ports and Malta impounded some.

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‘‘Death threats were made and some of the 12 crew members were pushed . . . It turned from a rescue to piracy.’’

A spokesman at Italy’s transport ministry