ROME - At least eight people were confirmed dead Tuesday and many more were missing after a new series of boat tragedies left Italy on the verge of a record year for migrant arrivals. A coastguard boat recovered seven bodies and oversaw the rescue of 182 people from a stricken rubber dinghy in waters off Libya. Three others were in a critical condition: a woman who was helicoptered off a coastguard boat after suffering cardiac arrest and two people on the Responder who were transferred to coastguard speedboats suffering from hypothermia. The rescued survivors will add to a total of 168,544 migrants who have been registered at Italian ports in 2016. Recent weeks have seen several migrants killed by cars while trying to cross from Italy into France at their coastal border.

Source: Bangkok Post November 22, 2016 19:49 UTC