Italian authorities responded to a migrant boat in distress Sunday night near Lampedusa. The boat was carrying about 270 migrants. Seas were too rough to transfer the migrants to the Italian vessels and the migrant boat was escorted towards Lampedusa. The boat broke down about one mile from Lampedusa and a transfer operation was begun this morning. During the transfer 25 bodies were discovered in the boat. It is believed that the deaths were probably caused by asphyxiation because the boat was overloaded and packed very tightly with passengers.
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MIGRANTS AT SEA 