Lampedusa migrant boat disaster death toll rises to 232
More than 300 people feared drowned after the boat sinking
Italian divers recovered dozens more bodies from a sunken migrant boat on Monday but struggled to free more corpses trapped inside the hulk before night fell.
Over 300 people are feared drowned after the packed boat caught fire and capsized just 1 kilometre from their destination, the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, last week.
It was one of the worst single incidents involving economic migrants and refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean from Africa in search of a new life in Europe.
Search teams on Monday pulled 38 more bodies from the wreck submerged in more than 40 metres of water, bringing the total number of bodies recovered to 232.
Some we have found with their arms outstretched. We try not to notice this kind of thing too much, otherwise the task is too difficult
“Some we have found with their arms outstretched. We try not to notice this kind of thing too much, otherwise the task is too difficult,” said police diver Riccardo Nobile. “We can see a woman’s hair floating out of a broken porthole. But we haven’t been able to get to her.”