ROME, April 1, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The bodies of 19 migrants were recovered from 
an inflatable boat south of the island of Lampedusa on Wednesday by the 
Italian coastguard, a coastguard spokesman 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 spokesman Roberto D'Arrigo.

Lampedusa mayor Filippo Mannino said seven people, including two children, 
were being treated in hospital for "hypothermia and intoxication from 
hydrocarbon fumes".

The coastguard rescue was staged some 135 kilometres (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 migrants may have died while being transported back 
to Lampedusa in particularly rough weather conditions with waves up to seven 
metres (23 feet) high.

Lampedusa is a key landing point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea 
from North Africa, with many dying trying the dangerous journey.

So far this year, 624 migrants have died or gone missing in the central 
Mediterranean, according to the UN's International Organization for 
Migration.

Lampedusa's last migrant disaster occurred in August last year, when 27 
people died in two shipwrecks off the coast.

According to the interior ministry, 6,117 migrants have landed on Italy's 
shores so far this year.