Up to 50 found dead on boats

AT least 44 people were found dead yesterday on three overcrowded migrant boats off the Libyan coast.

The bulk of the victims were found in the hold of a wooden boat which was intercepted by the Swedish coastguard vessel, the Poseidon. The migrants are thought to have suffocated. The Swedish vessel rescued 439 people.

The Italian coastguard, which co-ordinates rescue efforts in the area, estimated the number of dead to be 50. It said four other bodies, including those of three women, were found on two rubber dinghies later in the day.

Meanwhile, Greece’s coast guard said it rescued 578 migrants off its eastern Aegean Islands in 15 separate operations near the islands of Lesbos, Chios, Samos and Kos in the past 24 hours.

That figure did not include those who arrived at the islands without assistance.