At least 40 migrants have been killed, apparently by inhaling fumes, while packed into an overcrowded smuggling boat in the Mediterranean, the Italian navy has said.
More than 300 others were saved from the tightly packed vessel found north of Libya, Massimo Tozzi – commander of the rescue ship – added.
"The dead were found in the hold," said Cmdr Tozzi. “[The cause of death] appears to be from inhaling exhaust fumes.”
The rescuers found migrants’ bodies "lying in water, fuel, human excrement" in the hold. The survivors have been transferred to a Norwegian ship with the Frontex mission, a European effort to save migrant lives in the Mediterranean, and were being brought to a port in southern Italy.
Italian navy admiral Pierpaolo Ribuffo said the boat involved in today’s tragedy had been “filled up to unimaginable levels”.
Tens of thousands of migrants have so far fled war, persecution and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia across the Mediterranean this year. Greece alone has reported 134,988 arrivals from Turkey this year.
Additional reporting by PA/AP
