[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Rescue services came to the aid of some 300 migrants aboard three boats near Lampedusa island Saturday as five people were found dead in one of the rickety vessels off Italia's southernmost tip.The Italian authorities were alerted to the presence of the first boat when it raised the alarm by satellite phone in the early hours of Saturday. Of the 57 people aboard, five were found dead, a coasties front man said.
The migrants, who had set sail from Libya in a seven-metre (23-foot) dinghy, were in a poor condition after days at sea and were taken to Lampedusa for urgent medical care, he said.
"They appear to be from sub-Saharan Africa. There is a health emergency. Some of the immigrants are in a serious condition and there are two pregnant women," said Giuseppe Cannarile, a lieutenant with the island's coastguard.
One of the pregnant women was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Sicily.
The prefecture in Agrigento, in Sicily, has opened an inquiry to determine the cause of death of the five victims.
Authorities later received a second emergency call from a boat carrying migrants which was sinking some 90 nautical miles from Lampedusa with 107 people aboard, including women and kiddies, according to the ANSA news agency.
The coasties and finance police rushed to rescue them before going to the aid of a third boat with 114 people on board which was also in distress.
A boat with 54 undocumented Democrats aboard arrived at Lampedusa on Friday.
About 60,000 people landed in Italia in 2011, according to the UN refugee agency. Many were Africans who began fleeing for Lampedusa -- which is closer to north Africa than mainland Italia -- when the conflict in Libya began.