Italian coast guards found 25 dead bodies in the hold of a refugee boat with 271 people crammed on board that arrived on the southern island of Lampedusa on Monday, local port authorities said. It was not immediately clear how the refugees -- all young men -- had died but it may have been from asphyxiation due to crowded conditions, ANTARA reported. The corpses were found while the refugees were being moved from their boat onto a coast guard vessel. They are now in a morgue on the island. The 271 refugees found alive included 36 women and 21 children. Coast guard officials had earlier said that the number of refugees was 268.
