Italian Coast Guard reports 7 dead in migrant crossing

ROME (AP) — Seven migrants have died and some 280 have been rescued by the Italian Coast Guard after they were discovered in a packed wooden boat off the coast of the Italian island of Lampedusa. Three people were dead when the Coast Guard arrived for the rescue in rough waters, and a further four died of hypothermia after being transported to the hospital. Most of the migrants were from Egypt and Bangladesh. Arrivals in Italy this year are significantly higher than the past two winters, totaling 2,051 through early Tuesday, compared with 872 in the same period last year and 835 a year before that. Arrivals typically peak in the summer months.