Hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini on Thursday rejected criticism of Italy's navy for allegedly waiting 24 hours before aiding a wrecked boat off Libya with 90 migrants on board including a five-year-old child who reportedly died.
"These are unfounded and slanderous accusations against the men and women who serve in our navy," Salvini said.
"Also in this incident, as always and respecting the law and moral values, they went to the rescue of those who were in jeopardy," he went on.
Italian ports remain closed to boats that rescue migrants at sea, Salvini said.
Earlier on Thursday, the NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans tweeted that a five-year-old girl had died on the wrecked boat and urged the Italian navy to intervene "urgently".
"Twenty-four hours after civil society organisations first alerted the presence of the migrant boat, the Italian Navy seems to be launching a rescue operation," read a further tweet.
"The P490 Cigala Fulgosi has always been nearby but has waited. If the five-year-old girl's death is confirmed, we will know that those who could have saved her did not," the tweet continued.
German NGO Sea Watch also reported the wrecked ship with 90 people aboard who had been stranded at sea for over 35 hours, among them a five-year-old girl who had reportedly died.
Sea Watch re-tweeted an earlier message from the migrant boat hotline Alarm Phone that 90 people had been stranded in the Mediterranean for over 35 hours with a five-year-old child aboard the boat reportedly having died.
Alarm Phone's tweet early on Thursday said it received a distress call from the boat in which those on board said they had seen a helicopter flying over the area but no sign of a rescue ship.
