Mediterranean Sea

Italy: At least 40 migrants dead at sea, 320 others rescued

The navy said because the rescue was still ongoing it couldn't give exact numbers of dead.

"They are still counting the victims," Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told reporters after giving the figure of 320 rescued.

RaiNews24 TV, reporting from the navy rescue coordination center in Rome, said the dead migrants were found in the hold of an overcrowded smugglers' boat.

VIDEO: Coast Guard rescues migrants from boat

The 55 women, 26 minors and 300 men were all safely transferred onto the Coast Guard ship Fiorillo on Thursday.

According to the Coast Guard, the wooden vessel sank shortly after all the migrants were rescued.

VIDEO: Belgium navy rescue woman and children

The migrants, mostly from Eritrea, were sailing on a rubber boat about 40 nautical miles off Tripoli.

The Godetia sailors helped transfer on board 105 migrants, many of them women and children.

The migrants were given medical checks. Many suffered from dehydration after hours at sea.

It was the second rescue operation the Belgian ship carried out that day.