Italian officials began questioning Tuesday six suspected human traffickers in connection with the deaths of 25 African migrants who suffocated on a refugee boat off Lampedusa, news reports said.
The six men, who are Moroccan, Syrian and Somalian nationals, were allegedly in charge of the boat which left Libya over the weekend carrying around 300 people, the ANSA news agency said.
The bodies of the 25 victims - all men - were discovered in the vessel's engine room by Italian coast guard officials who intercepted it early Monday morning.
At least two of the bodies bore marks of beatings and other signs of violence which are believed to have caused their deaths, prosecutor Renato Di Natale was quoted as saying by ANSA.
According to reports from some of the 271 survivors who were taken ashore to Lampedusa, those who died had been prevented from reaching the deck after the air down below had become unbreathable due to engine fumes.
When the men tried to get out they were allegedly beaten by the five suspects. Investigators were also looking into reports that the five also threw one of the migrants overboard.
Most of the migrants hailed from sub-Saharan Africa.
In April, more than 250 migrants died in a shipwreck some 39 nautical miles (72 kilometres) off Lampedusa.
Italy, and mainly Lampedusa, which is only 130 kilometres off the Tunisian coast, has again become a main destination of refugees and migrants since the start of the revolutions in North Africa earlier this year.
Since January, 33,000 people have arrived on the island of just 20 square kilometres
Culled from: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1654480.php/Human-traffickers-suspected-in-deaths-of-25-migrants-off-Lampedusa
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