At least 40 migrants ‘suffocated in filth’, says Italian navy captain

At least 40 migrants have died at sea and hundreds more have been rescued from an overcrowded smugglers’ boat in the Mediterranean sea. The Italian navy said more than 320 people had been saved, but because the rescue was still ongoing authorities said the victims were “still being counted”. RaiNews24 TV said the people who died were found in the hold of the boat north of Libya. They are thought to have suffocated after inhaling fumes from fuel after the vessel took on water.

(The dead were found) immersed in water, fuel and human excrement.

Massimo Tozzi, captain of the Italian rescue ship

More than 2,000 migrants have died at sea so far this year while trying to reach Europe from Libya, where human traffickers are based - including about 200 off the coast of Libya less than two weeks ago. War, persecution and poverty have led them to leave the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The Geneva-based International Organisation for Migration has said numbers of migrants trying to reach Europe by sea is heading for a record figure this year. On the Greek island of Kos, desperate refugees have been pleading for help after thousands of people fleeing instability or poverty arrived over the summer.

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