Several dead as immigrant boat sinks near Sicily

ROME, Aug 19 (Reuters) At least seven people were killed and others feared dead when a boat believed to have been carrying some 100 illegal immigrants sank off the coast of Sicily early today morning, the Coast Guard said.

A Coast Guard official at the rescue coordination centre in Rome told Reuters that as of about four hours after the accident, 79 immigrants had been rescued alive and that the bodies of seven victims had been plucked from the sea.

The official said survivors recounted that there were between 100 and 120 immigrants on board. But he cautioned that such counts were often inexact, so it was difficult to say how many were still missing and feared dead.

The boat, about 10 metres long, sank some 10 miles off the island of Lampedusa. One Navy ship was already following the immigrant boat and was able to start the rescue quickly.

The rescue operation, involving Navy and Coast Guard boats and helicopters, was still underway.

The southern island is frequently the place where illegal immigrants leaving from north Africa try to enter Italy.

Reuters MS VP1135