Post date: Oct 07, 2013 7:51:3 PM
Italian divers, working under tough and harrowing conditions, are still recovering bodies from the submerged Lampedusa migrant boat.
LAMPEDUSA, ITALY (OCTOBER 7, 2013) (REUTERS) - Italian divers worked against the clock on Monday (October 7) to recover more bodies from the wreck that was packed with African migrants before it sank off the southern island of Lampedusa last week.
As evening fell, rescuers could be seen bringing more bodies to a pier inLampedusa port where they were lined up in blue body bags and carried away by soldiers wearing white gloves and mouth masks.A further 21 bodies were removed from the wreck in the evening, bringing to a total of 38 bodies retrieved throughout the day.
So far 232 bodies have been brought to the surface since the search began on Thursday (October 3).
Rough seas have hampered the operations to recover bodies from the wreck that is submerged in more than 40 metres of water.
Because of its depth, divers are only able to remain on the wreck for a few minutes at a time and the recovery work has been slow. All the bodies from around the ship and on deck have now been recovered, leaving dozens still inside the vessel.
More than 300 people are feared drowned in Thursday's (October 3) disaster, one of the worst single incidents involving economic migrants and refugees attempting the perilous sea crossing from northern Africa to Europe.
The boat, carrying around 500 mainly Eritrean and Somali migrants, capsized and sank, throwing hundreds into the water. Only 155 survivors were rescued.