A search for a better life in Europe has ended in tragedy. Thirteen would be migrants have died during their crossing from Libya, the rest of the group were rescued by the Italian navy. Seven of the men are in a critical condition with two in a coma. Lampedusa, between Sicily and North Africa, is a major route into Europe for immigrants, travelling in often rickety boats.

The survivors were taken to the Italian island, their boat had drifted without water of food for days. The men in their twenties and thirties, are from Senegal, Mali and Egypt. Authorities say this is the heaviest death toll since the beginning of the year.

PHOTO CAPTION

An Italian rescuer helps disembark, from the Italian Navy ship Sibilla, a would be immigrant on the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, near Sicily, Saturday July 29, 2006. (AP)

Euronews