Reports suggest at least 40 migrants have been found dead in the hold of a boat crossing the Mediterranean.<br /><br /> The vessel, said to be carrying around 400 people, was intercepted some 34 kilometres off the coast of Libya.<br /><br /> The Italian navy confirmed the deaths, but has yet to release further details. It is leading a rescue operation, which is believed to have saved many of those on board.<br /><br /> Italian news agency ANSA reports the fatalities were probably due to suffocation. <br /><br /> The news came a day after the release of a report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), putting migrant deaths at sea this year at record levels.<br /><br /> Mediterranean migrant arrivals approach 250,000 in 2015. Read the latest: http://t.co/5dnS8KjmfE #MissingMigrants pic.twitter.com/8Wqk0PICQB— IOM (@IOM_news) August 14, 2015<br /> <br /><br /> Total fatalities calculated by the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project now stand at over 2,300.
