health
Italian coastguard recovers 19 bodies from boat in sea near Lampedusa
Fifty-eight other people found alive during rescue involving inflatable craft in early hours of Wednesday
TL;DR
- Italian coastguard recovered 19 bodies from an inflatable boat near Lampedusa.
- Fifty-eight people, including five children, were rescued alive.
- Seven people, including two children, were treated for hypothermia and intoxication.
- The rescue occurred within Libyan search and rescue waters, with no immediate assistance from Libyan vessels.
- Rough weather conditions with waves up to seven meters high may have contributed to deaths.
- Lampedusa is a common landing point for migrants crossing from North Africa.
- 624 people have died or gone missing in the central Mediterranean this year, according to the UN.
- 6,117 migrants have landed on Italy's shores this year.