Nine would-be migrants who had hidden in a refrigerated truck aboard a passenger ferry en route to Italy from Patras were in the hospital yesterday after being discovered by crew members on Thursday night.

All the immigrants were suffering hypothermia, and two were found unconscious, according to crew of the boat, which stopped at the Ionian island of Corfu to get them medical assistance before resuming its scheduled journey to the port of Ancona.

The migrants – all men – were all out of danger and their condition was stabilizing yesterday, doctors said.

The ethnic origin of the would-be migrants was unclear yesterday. Also there was no information about whether the driver of the refrigerated truck had been detained.