At least 40 migrants die off Libyan coast

As many as 312 migrants, including three minors and 45 women, were rescued when found on an overcrowded fishing ship some 21 miles off Libya. But dozens were recovered dead in the hold, likely after inhaling the exhaust gas on the boat. Usually during the dangerous crossing, only those migrants who pay larger amounts of money can stay on the bridge of the boat to be away from exhaust gas, Massimo Tozzi, commander of the marine unit Cigala Fulgosi, told Rai State television, Xinhua reports. "It was a scene with strong emotional impact," Tozzi said. "There were several dead bodies submerged in water, fuel and human excrement ... This is the picture that appeared to our men when they got on board," he added. The fresh disaster happened just days after 25 migrants drowned and some other 200 were feared to have died after their boat capsized also off the Libyan coast with hundreds of people onboard. "We have intervened with a new search-and-rescue operation, not in our international water," Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said in a television interview on Saturday. "The new tragedy will be not the last one if the Libyan problem is not solved," he warned. Read more