Italian Navy pilots on board the aircraft “Atlantique” yesterday evening located six bodies, believed to be those of African would-be migrants, floating in the Mediterranean off the Italian island of Lampedusa.
Five of these bodies had already been recovered by the Italian Navy patrol boat “Chimera” dispatched on site late last night. Italian sources said the search for the sixth body was hampered by bad sea conditions and the total darkness that has now fallen down.
The bodies were found around 60 nautical miles south of the island, the Italian Navy said. The exact circumstances of how the six came to be in the water were not known but it is believed they could have been dead for some days.
Just a week ago Italian Navy pilots spotted the bodies of 14 dead migrants south-west of Lampedusa in the Maltese Search and Rescue area. Seven bodies were eventually recovered by the Italian Navy from the sea.
Ten illegal immigrants were still missing at sea after their boat capsized 60 nautical miles to the South of Malta almost two weeks ago. However it has not been established yet whether the bodies discovered yesterday were the same ones or the result of another boat tragedy in the seas between Malta and Sicily