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25 refugees fleeing Libya found dead on boat off Lampedusa
The bodies of 25 people have been found on board a boat laden with refugees fleeing Libya as it approached the island of Lampedusa.
1 August 2011, 12:00am
Karl Stagno-Navarra
Karl Stagno-Navarra
Italian authorities have inititated investigations into the death of 24 men and a woman who were discovered dead inside the hold of an old fishing boat at approximately one mile off the island of Lampedusa.
The boat was intercepted by the Italian Coast Guard laden with some 300 refugees fleeing war-torn Libya.
According to sources, the refugees died suffocated in the overcrowded hold of the boat during the almost 35 hour journey from Zlitan in Libya.
No external signs of violence were reported to be found on the bodies so far,
