Twenty-nine migrants died of hypothermia aboard Italian coast guard vessels on Monday after being picked up from a boat adrift near Libya, reigniting criticism of the government's decision to end a full-scale search-and rescue mission last year. Two patrol boats picked up 105 people late on Sunday from an inflatable boat drifting in extreme sea conditions, with waves as high as 8 metres (26 feet) and temperatures just a few degrees above zero, the coast guard said in a statement. The migrants who died spent 18 hours on the deck of one of the vessels taking them to the Italian island of Lampedusa, buffeted by high winds and spray. One survivor was taken by helicopter to Sicily in critical condition, Pietro Bartolo, Lampedusa's chief healthcare official, told Reuters.