ITALY: Italian magistrates have opened an investigation into the deaths of at least 14 people who died when a boat loaded with illegal immigrants from Liberia capsized off the southern coast of Sicily yesterday.
Police sources said there might be more bodies inside the wreckage of the sunken 10-metre vessel, but divers were forced to suspend rescue efforts due to heavy seas and zero visibility.
Earlier rescuers pulled 14 bodies from the wreckage and the surrounding waters, dragging them ashore to be placed in a line of wooden coffins. The victims comprised nine men and five women, one of whom was estimated to be 15 years old.
The small fishing boat, overloaded with an estimated 130 passengers, sank in shallow waters about 200 metres from shore. Survivors said that while the boat had arrived in relatively calm seas, the captain had waited for a storm to pass overhead before coming closer to shore. However the storm was more violent than expected, with heavy waves helping to capsize the boat.
"We waited in front of the beach for about an hour to see if the storm would pass," said one survivor. "Then the waves and the wind pushed us up against some rocks and then the boat's engine caught fire."
Several passengers swam ashore, while 92 were rescued from the water by boats or helicopters, police said. All on board were from Liberia in West Africa, apart from the captain, an Egyptian, whom police believe was responsible for the smuggling operation.
Thousands of illegal immigrants make their way from North Africa, eastern Europe and Turkey towards Italy by boat each month. Earlier this month tough legislation was introduced to try to stem the flood of immigrants. Human rights groups and the UNHCR have complained that the new law is too harsh and makes insufficient provision for valid cases of asylum. - (Reuters)