Warsaw, Sha'ban 13, 1436, May 31, 2015, SPA -- More than 5,000 migrants have been rescued from drowning in the Mediterranean Sea over the past three days, the EU border agency Frontex said Sunday. "This is the biggest wave of migrants we have seen in 2015," dpa quoted Frontex Executive Director Fabrice Leggeri as saying in a statement. The rescue operations began Friday, when 25 boats filled with people trying to escape Libya departed for Europe. Rescuers discovered 17 bodies during their operations, the Warsaw-based agency said. British, Maltese, Belgian and Italian ships, along with Icelandic and Finnish planes, participated in the rescues, which were conducted under the EU's maritime patrol mission Triton. The migrants were taken to ports in Italy. --SPA 19:31 LOCAL TIME 16:31 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w