ITALY – The bodies of five migrants who died when a boat capsized in rough waters off the southern Lampedusa coast a week ago have been found, Italy’s coast guard said on Sunday, bringing the overall death toll to 18.
The boat, which survivors said had departed from Libya taking advantage of a respite in bad weather, was believed to carry around 170 people.
The Lampedusa coast guard managed to bring safely onshore 147 migrants after the accident on Nov. 23.
After the new bout of bad weather blocked search operations for several days, on Sunday six coast guard divers helped by a remotely-operated submarine found four bodies underwater and a fifth one floating.
Over 1,100 migrants have died or are missing at sea after attempting to cross the Mediterranean this year, according to the International Organization for Migration.(Reuters)
