The bodies of around 50 people have been found in the hold of a boat off Libya, according to the Italian coastguard.

The bodies were discovered during a rescue operation which saved 430 other people, the coast guard said.

The Swedish ship Poseidon, working with the EU's Frontex border control agency, had gone to help the people on the boat where the bodies were found.

The rescue was one of 10 requests for assistance that arrived at the coast guard's operations centre today.

Libya-based smugglers have taken advantage of calm seas to send boats overloaded with migrants to Europe.