More Than 50 Refugees Dead On Boats Near The Coast Of Libya

Rescuers have saved about 3,000 refugees but found more than 50 dead on boats near the coast of Libya, according to the Italian coastguard.

At least 55 bodies were discovered on Wednesday on three overcrowded boats in the Mediterranean Sea, the coastguard said.

Of them, 51 were found in the hold of a wooden boat found drifting precariously off the Libyan coast by the Poseidon, a Swedish ship mobilised under the European Union’s rescue mission Triton.

Tens of thousands of people, mainly from Africa and the Middle East, have put to sea this year in the hope of reaching Europe, often dangerously packed into small vessels that were never designed to cross the Mediterranean.

The boat on which rescuers on the Poseidon found the 51 corpses was carrying 439 survivors, Reuters news agency reported.

Three women were found dead on a rubber boat carrying a further 120 people.

One person rescued along with more than 100 others on another boat died shortly afterwards.