Footage has emerged showing desperate migrants on an overcrowded rubber dinghy trying to get on to a ship which came to its rescue in the Mediterranean.

Five bodies were recovered during the rescue - and many more were feared to have drowned.

The two-minute video shows the inflatable, with dozens of people on board, taking on water.

Some people start jumping into the sea as life vests and rubber rings are thrown down from the commercial vessel Zeran next to it.

Two of those wearing the rings struggle to get close to the vessel as the current appeared to be pulling them away.

Video: Associated Press

The dinghy was packed with dozens of people and some take it in turns to try to get water out using plastic blue containers, emptying them over the sides.

A rope ladder is thrown down as a few clamber to get climb up from the sea. One migrant is filmed being frisked by crew members on board the ship.

The footage was shot by a crew member on board the Zeran and the incident is believed to have happened on Sunday in the sea between Libya and the Italian island of Sicily.

The crew member who filmed the footage told the Associated Press that the five bodies were recovered from inside the dinghy, suggesting that the migrants had either died during the crossing or in the frantic rush to be rescued.

He estimated at least another five to nine people fell into the water and drowned.

Over three days from last Friday to Sunday, the Italian coastguard rescued several thousand migrants in the Mediterranean.

It came after smugglers in Libya took advantage of calm seas and warm weather to send many of them out into the sea in overloaded rubber boats and fishing vessels.

Last month, up to 900 migrants drowned when their boat capsized off Libya with hundreds of passengers thought to have been locked in the hold by smugglers.

A few days earlier, a further 400 people were feared drowned in another capsizing.

After the deaths, the European Union held an emergency summit and agreed to contribute more boats and patrol aircraft to Mediterranean rescue efforts.

EU chiefs also want to push for a UN resolution that would allow them to destroy vessels used by traffickers before they attempt to smuggle migrants across the water.

More than 1,750 people are estimated to have died in the waters between Libya and Italy since the start of this year.