29 illegal immigrants found dead off the coast of Italy

Twenty-nine illegal immigrants died on a boat drifting off the coast of Lampedusa, Italy's closest point to Africa, according to sources from the Italian Navy and maritime rescue forces on February 9.

According to rescuers, the bodies of these people were found when they rescued the ship on the night of February 8 and early morning of February 9, when there were still 125 survivors on board. It is believed that these people died from sudden hypothermia due to the extremely cold weather.

A boat of illegal immigrants is rescued in the Mediterranean Sea. (Source: AFP/VNA)

Unfavorable weather conditions with low temperatures, strong winds and large waves made rescue operations extremely difficult.

It is likely that the ship departed from a location in Libya and was headed to Italy, a place that illegal immigrants from Africa always choose as a transit point to seek asylum in other European Union (EU) countries.

Late last year, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said 3,419 illegal immigrants died in accidents in the Mediterranean Sea on their way to Europe./.

According to VNA