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.


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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.