The Italian coastguard has recovered the bodies of 19 migrants from an inflatable boat south of Lampedusa, following a rescue operation in the early hours of Wednesday.
A total of 58 people, including five children, were found alive and transported to Lampedusa, according to coastguard spokesman Roberto D’Arrigo.
Lampedusa mayor Filippo Mannino said seven survivors, including two children, were receiving hospital treatment for “hypothermia and intoxication from hydrocarbon fumes”.
The rescue took place about 135 kilometres off the Italian island, within Libyan search-and-rescue waters. The vessel had been spotted drifting on Tuesday by an Italian reconnaissance plane, with no Libyan coastguard or civilian ships nearby to assist.
Authorities then dispatched an Italian coastguard vessel from Lampedusa to respond.
D’Arrigo said some of the migrants may have died while being transported back to shore due to severe weather conditions, with waves reaching up to seven metres.
Images released by ANSA news agency showed what appeared to be body bags being offloaded from a coastguard vessel at a quay.
Lampedusa remains a key entry point for migrants attempting the dangerous Mediterranean crossing from North Africa, a route that continues to claim lives.
“We are deeply saddened by yet another tragic incident in the Mediterranean,” said the UN refugee agency in a post on X, adding that its representatives were “providing immediate support to the survivors”.
According to the International Organization for Migration, at least 624 migrants have died or gone missing in the central Mediterranean so far this year.
The latest tragedy follows a similar incident in August last year, when 27 people died in two shipwrecks off Lampedusa.
Data from Italy’s interior ministry shows that 6,117 migrants have arrived on the country’s shores this year.
In a separate incident on Wednesday, 19 Afghan migrants, including a baby, died after an inflatable dinghy sank in the Aegean Sea off southwestern Turkey following an encounter with a Turkish coastguard vessel.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
