October 9, 2013
The Guardian
Italian premier, Enrico Letta, shocked by bodies at morgue, as number of dead from migrants’ vessel rises to 296
Hundreds of victims of last week’s migrant boat disaster off the Italian island of Lampedusa will be given a state funeral, the Italian prime minister, Enrico Letta, has said.
Letta visited the island with José Manuel Barroso, head of the European commission, who promised Italy €30m (£25m) in EU funds to help resettle migrants risking the 70-mile journey across the Mediterranean from Africa.
A wreath is laid at sea after the sinking of the migrants’ boat, which was taking mostly Eitreans and Somalians from Africa to Europe. Photograph: Tullio M Puglia/Getty
Divers on Tuesday continued to retrieve bodies from the boat, which sank after catching fire half a mile off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa last Thursday. The number of bodies found was reported to be 296. Of the 500 passengers packed on board, only 155 survived.
As they arrived on the island, Letta and Barroso were heckled by locals shouting “shame” and “assassins”, while banners were raised and fishing boats sounded sirens in protest at a perceived lack of support from Rome and Brussels for migrants who reach the island, which is closer to Africa than mainland Europe.