By IANS

ROME: Rescuers recovered eight bodies and saved 1,400 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe by boat, Italian coastguard said on Tuesday.

The migrant corpses and survivors were transferred to rescue vessels from at least 11 overcrowded boats off the Libyan coast amid calm seas, according to coastguard.

One migrant who had a heart attack and two suffering from severe hypothermia were taken to hospital by helicopter.

The coast guard ship Diciotti took seven corpses from a rubber boat, while one body was recovered from another rubber vessel by the Topaz, a ship run by humanitarian group Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS).

The migrant vessels included one wooden trawler that was carrying 450-500 people as well as two smaller wooden boats and several overcrowded inflatable dinghies, the Red Cross said.

The survivors included migrants from Syria, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and sub-Saharan Africa. </s> ROME — The Italian coast guard says 6,055 migrants have been rescued in one day in the Mediterranean off Libya. Nine bodies were recovered.

The coast guard said it a total of 39 rescues Monday in the sea about 30 miles north of Tripoli. Smugglers took advantage of the first day of calm seas after days of rough waters to launch vessels crowded with migrants who pay them in hopes of reaching European shores.

Most of the vessels were rubber dinghies, but there were also two rafts.

Doctors Without Borders said the dead included a 23-year-old pregnant woman.

Italian coast guard and navy ships, as well as vessels in European Frontex sea patrols and several humanitarian organizations, participated in the rescues.

Two migrants needing medical care were flown to Sicily's Lampedusa island.
Rescuers recovered 8 bodies and saved 1400 migrants adrift on the Mediterranean Sea today.