Woman, small child found dead in deflated dinghy off Libya

Rescuers operating off the coast of Libya discovered the bodies of a small child and woman in a deflated dinghy today, while a second woman was found alive but suffering from hypothermia and shock.

The fate of other migrants likely to have been aboard the dinghy -- which was found around 80 nautical miles north east of Tripoli -- was not immediately clear.

The Libyan coastguard announced that they had rescued 158 people from a dinghy on Monday 16 nautical miles from Khoms, relatively far from where the deflated raft was discovered.

The dinghy -- which was discovered by rescuers from the Spanish charity Proactiva Open Arms -- was completely deflated, with the victims lying on the few wooden planks that remained afloat.

Rescuers said the boy was around five years old.

The survivor identified herself only as Josepha, saying she was 40 years old and from the West African state of Cameroon.

The rescue ship's medical team said she was in a stable condition but was traumatised, adding that she needed medical and psychological treatment "as soon as possible".

The team also called for the quick transfer of the two bodies, as the Open Arms ship does not have refrigeration facilities to store the bodies.

The Open Arms and the Spanish charity's other ship, the Astral, returned to Libyan waters on Tuesday after several weeks of absence from the area. Italy and Malta are cracking down on NGO boats operating in the Mediterranean, sharply reining in their rescue efforts.

Italy's hardline Interior Minister Matteo Salvini has announced that the country's ports will be closed to charity rescue boats which he accuses of indirectly aiding human traffickers.

Malta has also banned the ships from stopping over at its ports. Upon the boats' return to Libyan waters Salvini -- who is head of the far-right League party -- tweeted: "Two Spanish NGO ships have returned to the Mediterranean waiting to be loaded with human beings. They should save themselves time and money, they will only see Italian ports on postcards."