LAMPEDUSA – A boat carrying 280 people arrived in Lampedusa during the night, of which seven on board were found dead, the port authorities said. The Agrigento prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into manslaughter and is looking for the smuggler or smugglers who organised the boat.

 Port authorities intercepted the boat at around 3.30 a.m. Tuesday morning and escorted it to the Favaloro pier of Lampedusa. When the authorities first found the boat, 24 miles south of the island’s coast, three people were already dead. Four more people died on the way to Lampedusa.

 Doctors on board the patrol boats said that the deaths occurred from hypothermia. A further two people had passed out from the cold and were sent to the outpatient clinic on the island.

 Some of the migrants come from Abu Kammash in Libya, while others hail from Bangladesh, Egypt, Sudan and Mali. The 280 survivors received a health check before being sent to the refugee centre in the Imbriacola district.

 The mayor of Lampedusa and Linosa, Salvatore 'Totò' Martello, commented, “another tragedy, once again we mourn innocent victims.”

 "Here we continue to do our part amid a thousand difficulties,” he continued, “despite the fact that the Italian government and Europe seem to have forgotten Lampedusa and the Lampedusans. But we can't go on alone for much longer.”

 In just 24 hours last week, after weeks of respite due to bad weather conditions, over 500 migrants disembarked at the Favaloro pier. At that point, the Imbriacola centre was already overcrowded. It has an official capacity of 250, but currently is accomodating 570 people.

ln