Rome, 22 June 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Bodies are still being pulled from the waters off the Italian coast after a boat carrying migrants capsized earlier this week.

Fourteen more bodies were found about 200 kilometres from the mainland on Friday, the coastguard said.

The number of confirmed dead from the accident on Sunday night is now at 34 and it is feared that there are more bodies in the sea.

Survivors of the accident told aid organizations that at least 50 people were on board.

The coastguard said three ships would continue to search for further missing people in the coming days, supported from the air by aircraft from the Italian navy and the European border protection agency Frontex.

The boat set off from Turkey, but capsized off the coast of the southern Italian region of Calabria.

Eleven people were picked up alive by a merchant ship, but their vessel had already half sunk. They were brought to the harbour of the Calabrian town of Roccella Ionica by the coastguard.

Many thousands of migrants try to reach islands such as Lampedusa, Malta, Sicily or the Italian mainland by boat from Turkey or North Africa. They are often put on unseaworthy vessels and this sometimes leads to accidents with fatalities and missing persons.

Italy's Interior Ministry recorded more than 24,400 migrants who reached Italy on boats this year. In the same period last year, the figure was around 58,600.

Photo: MIA archive