The bodies of 19 people have been recovered from an inflatable boat south of the island of Lampedusa by the Italian coastguard, a spokesperson told AFP. Fifty-eight other people, including five children, were found alive during the rescue in the early hours of Wednesday and transported to Lampedusa by the coastguard, according to Roberto D’Arrigo. The coastguard rescue took place about 85 miles off the Italian island inside Libyan search and rescue waters. The boat was spotted by an Italian reconnaissance plane on Tuesday but there were no Libyan coastguard or civilian ships in the area to assist, D’Arrigo said. A decision was taken to send an Italian coastguard vessel from Lampedusa.

Source: The North Africa Journal April 02, 2026 13:47 UTC