550 migrants rescued in Mediterranean sea, five bodies recovered

“We recovered five bodies dead inside the rubber boat after the rescue, and one person drowned,” an SOS Mediterranee spokeswoman said.

About 550 migrants, most of them from West Africa, were pulled to safety from boats in the Mediterranean on Monday in five operations during which rescuers also recovered five dead bodies, Italy’s coast guard said.

African refugees and migrants react aboard a partially punctured rubber boat as they wait to be assisted , during a rescue operation on the Mediterranean Sea on Sept 10. (AP File Photo)

The bodies were in a rubber dinghy and one other person from the dinghy had drowned, according to aid group SOS Mediterranee, whose Aquarius vessel helped in the rescues off Libya’s coast.

“We recovered five bodies dead inside the rubber boat after the rescue, and one person drowned,” an SOS Mediterranee spokeswoman said, quoting two rescue workers who said they saw the person drowning. They were not able to recover the body.

A boy, who was unconscious for two hours, and a woman who had inhaled a lot of fuel, were evacuated by helicopter.

An Italian coast guard ship, a naval vessel and a Danish chemical tanker also took part in the rescues, the coast guard said in a statement.

The deadliest route is across the Mediterranean towards Italy from Libya, where smugglers have taken advantage of a breakdown of order to pack people into unseaworthy boats.