Some 50 bodies found aboard migrant boat off Libya

According to Italy's coastguard, the Swedish ship Poseidon made the morbid discovery on Wednesday after being sent to help a stricken vessel.

"Unfortunately, there were around 40 people dead in the hold," Swedish coastguard spokesman Mattias Lindholm told AFP news agency.

"The bodies are currently being transferred to the Poseidon," he added.

The Poseidon ship had been patrolling the area as part of the Triton search and rescue mission, led by EU border agency Frontex.

Increasing calls for help

Shortly before discovering the bodies, the Swedish vessel also picked up 130 migrants from a rubber dinghy in the same area.

The rescue on Wednesday was just one of 10 requests for assistance received by the coast guard's operations center that day. Libya-based smugglers are currently taking advantage of calm seas to send migrants to Europe on hugely overloaded boats.

A spokeswoman for the Italian coastguard said an Irish ship was also in the process of rescuing up to 500 people from another boat.

EU crisis

Europe is struggling to cope with a record influx of refugees and migrants as people flee war-torn countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Many more are seeking land routes via the Balkans.

The International Organization for Migration says at least 2,365 people have died this year during the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea - up from 1,779 in the same period of 2014.

ksb/jil (AP, AFP)