Bodies of 25 migrants found trapped in boat off Libyan coast

The bodies of 25 migrant men and women have been found in an inflatable dinghy in the southern Mediterranean, a medical charity has said.

Around 107 people were rescued from the same raft, said a spokeswoman for Medecins Sans Frontieres.

MSF said its chartered rescue ship, the Bourbon Argos, picked up the survivors from the vessel, 26 nautical miles off the Libyan coast on Tuesday.

Michele Telaro, an MSF field coordinator, said: "In the bottom of the boat, 25 victims of suspected fuel inhalation were hidden beneath a mixture of sea water and fuel.

"It took us three hours to retrieve 11 bodies because the mixture of petrol and water is so potent that we just couldn't risk being in the boat for long periods of time. It was horrific."

The victims were said to have likely have died from suffocation, burns or drowning.

The bodies were retrieved from the toxic mixture over a period of hours, with the help of a team from the German NGO Sea-Watch.

Mid-rescue, the MSF vessel was called away to a separate operation nearby, where crews rescued 139 people aboard another boat.

More than 3,500 people have died or disappeared trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa this year, the International Organisation for Migration estimates.

Around 500 migrants were rescued from overcrowded boats on Tuesday, Italy's coast guard said.  

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