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 The bodies of 19 people have been recovered from an inflatable boat south of the island of Lampedusa by the Italian coastguard, a spokesperson told AFP. Fifty-eight other people, including five children, were found alive during the rescue in the early hours of Wednesday and transported to Lampedusa by the coastguard, according to Roberto D’Arrigo. Lampedusa’s mayor, Filippo Mannino, said seven people, including two children, were being treated in hospital for “hypothermia and intoxication from hydrocarbon fumes”. The coastguard rescue took place about 85 miles off the Italian island inside Libyan search and rescue waters. The boat was spotted by an Italian reconnaissance plane on Tuesday but there were no Libyan coastguard or civilian ships in the area to assist, D’Arrigo said. A decision was taken to send an Italian coastguard vessel from Lampedusa. D’Arrigo said some of the people may have died while being transported back to Lampedusa in particularly rough weather conditions, with waves up to seven metres high. Lampedusa is a key landing point for people crossing the Mediter