Migrants die crossing the Mediterranean

At least 40 migrants died Saturday aboard a smuggling boat in the Mediterranean Sea north of Libya, while the Italian navy rescued 320 others. Tens of thousands of migrants—fleeing war, persecution and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia—have attempted the perilous journey across the Mediterranean this year, seeking asylum in Europe.

“The dead were found in the hold,” said Cmdr. Massimo Tozzi, speaking from the navy ship Cigala Fulgosi during the rescue mission. Asked by RaiNews24 how the migrants died, Tozzi said, “It appears to be from inhaling exhaust fumes.”

According to Tozzi, the bodies of migrants were found “lying in water, fuel, human excrement” in the hold.

The death toll was not yet final. “They are still counting the victims,” Italy’s Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told reporters.

Tozzi said the survivors included three children and 45 women, some of whom “were crying for their husbands [and] their children who died in the crossing.”

The Italian navy said that the survivors were transferred to a Norwegian ship with the Frontex mission, a European effort to save migrant lives in the Mediterranean. The survivors were being brought to a southern Italian port.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.