A shocking video has emerged of a dinghy packed with migrants sinking in the Mediterranean after they mistook a Tunisian trawler for a coastguard ship.

The footage appeared on the internet today and comes as the Italian coastguard warned that eight people had died and many more were missing after another migrant boat went down in the Mediterranean.

It is not clear if the footage is from this week or from the summer but it clearly shows the large white dinghy aiming itself at the ship.

The large white dinghy, powered by an outboard motor, can be seen heading straight for the ship (pictured, left). Seconds later, as it comes alongside, people try to climb up the side

It comes alongside the trawler and, as the migrants desperately try to climb up the side of the fishing vessel, the dinghy capsizes and dozens are thrown into the sea.

Many of the migrants clearly cannot swim and only a handful are wearing lifebelts.

As a man onboard the trawler's deck shouts in Italian: 'Calma (Stay calm)' the situation gets worse and eventually the bodies of people who have clearly drowned can be seen floating on the surface.

The dinghy is packed with African migrants (left) and when it capsizes they are thrown into the sea (right)

The video was uploaded onto Youtube, where a commentator says: 'The crew were reluctant to help since letting them on board would have been a serious security risk as it would have them outnumbered 10 to 1.

'The only way to help would be individuals of the crew rappelling down to to the sea line, which would most likely result in their own death as the immigrants would drag them down.'

The Italian coastguard has a policy of escorting to shore any migrants it finds at sea and it is thought those on the migrant boat thought they would be rescued and taken to Italy if their boat capsized next to the ship. They were unaware it was just a fishing vessel operating out of a Tunisian port.

The final scenes of the video show people clinging to the upturned dinghy (left) and others in the sea, including the bodies of people who have clearly drowned (right)

The shocking video comes as Malta-based charity MOAS and the Red Cross reported another tragedy involving another migrant boat.

Red Cross Team Coordinator Abdelfetah Mohamed said today: 'There may be many missing, many dead.'

'The doctors managed to revive several people with hypothermia but it was too late for one of them,' said MOAS spokeswoman Maria Teresa Sette.

The Italian coastguard said today 1,200 people on 11 boats had been rescued during operations overnight.

One wooden vessel was carrying almost 500 people. There were also two smaller wooden boats as well as the usual overcrowded inflatable dinghies.

The Red Cross said the survivors included migrants from Syria, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and sub-Saharan Africa.