Roundup: 29 bodies, hundreds rescued migrants brought to Italy, 97 missing

Hundreds of rescued migrants and refugees were brought to Reggio Calabria port in southern Italy on Thursday, along with at least 11 of 29 bodies overall recovered in a latest mission, Italian officers said.

In an earlier incident, over 90 migrants would be missing after an inflatable boat sank off Libya on Wednesday, Italian media reported.

International aid group Doctors without Borders' (MSF) ship Bourbon Argos reached Reggio Calabria port in late morning, with over 240 people on board who had been rescued in various operations in the Mediterranean.

Along with survivors, MSF crews brought to land 11 bodies.

"They were among the 29 victims found yesterday on board of an inflatable dinghy," MSF Field Communication Manager Giorgia Girometti told Xinhua, adding "Save the Children's search and rescue ship has taken care of the other bodies."

Crews with German NGO Sea-Watch in the southern Mediterranean had been the first to assist the migrant craft in distress in the southern Mediterranean. The corpses were found lying on the dinghy's floor, which was flooded with an intoxicating mixture of seawater and fuel, according to MSF.

"The fumes from such mixture were the likely cause of their death, although we still do not have a scientific confirmation," Girometti said.

Some 107 migrants were rescued from the same craft, and were among those who reached Reggio Calabria in the morning, the MSF officer added.

Separately on Thursday, Ansa news agency reported the likely death of another 97 people, who would be missing after an overcrowded migrant boat capsized just off Libya on Wednesday.

"At least 97 people are believed missing after the shipwreck of an inflatable craft," Libyan coast guard spokesman Ayoub Kassem was quoted by Ansa.

"Some 126 people were reported on board, and we rescued 29 of them," the official added. Endit