Italy sinking: Search resumes for missing migrants

'Divers off southern Italy have been searching the wreck of a boat which sank on Thursday drowning more than 300 African migrants.The fishing vessel foundered less than 1km (half a mile) from the island of Lampedusa after it caught fire.At least 111 bodies have now been recovered and some 200 of those on board the 20m (66ft) boat are still unaccounted for.Dozens of bodies are thought to remain in the sunken vessel.There had been about 500 passengers on board - most from Eritrea and Somalia, according to the UN. Rescuers saved 155.

Gavin Hewitt reports from Lampedusa on Friday morning, where locals are calling for action

The diving operation had to be temporarily suspended due to choppy seas, Italian media reports say.

At the scene Gavin Hewitt Europe editor, in Lampedusa

The arguments have begun over how to stop this tragic loss of life.
An estimated 25,000 have lost their lives in the past 20 years.
Some officials are saying that if you close borders then you give more power to the traffickers. Others point out that there are 26 million out of work in the EU and that Europe is reluctant to accommodate more migrants.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday that there needed to be "more channels for safe and orderly migration". It might help but it remains likely that thousands will still try and migrate to Europe.
EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem vowed to "fight smugglers exploiting human despair".
None of this is easy but officials are saying that the migrants have become a "European tragedy".

Officials are quoted as saying some 100 bodies could remain in the wreck, which lies some 40m below the surface.

Half of the bodies so far recovered are said to be women and four are children.
A minute of silence was being observed in all Italian schools on Friday in memory of the victims and flags are at half-mast. A special mass is being held on Friday evening in the church in Lampedusa.
The skipper of the boat, a 35-year-old Tunisian, was arrested, announced Italy's Interior Minister Angelino Alfano when he visited the island on Thursday.

Illegal migration numbers

• Since 1988, at least 19,142 people died trying to reach Europe's borders - 2,352 in 2011 alone
• 6,707 have died off Sicily in the past 10 years
• Of those who arrived in Italy in 2011, 571,000 continued on to Germany, 210,000 to France, 194,000 to the UK, 87,000 to Sweden, 75,000 to the Netherlands, and 58,000 stayed in Italy

Source: Fortress Europe

"He had been deported from Italy in April," Mr Alfano said.

"This is not an Italian tragedy, this is a European tragedy," he continued. "Lampedusa has to be considered the frontier of Europe, not the frontier of Italy."
'Immense tragedy' The ship appears to have set sail from Misrata in Libya and began taking on water when its motor stopped working as it neared Lampedusa early on Thursday morning.
It is thought that some of those on board set fire to a piece of material to try to attract the attention of passing ships, only to have the fire spread to the rest of the boat.
The boat is thought to have capsized when everyone moved to one side.
It is one of the worst such disasters to occur off the Italian coast in recent years.

Alan Johnston reports on Italy's 'day of tears'

In a separate incident on Thursday, local media reported that around 200 migrants were escorted to the port of Syracuse on the island of Sicily, when their vessel encountered difficulties five miles off the coast.
Earlier this week, 13 migrants drowned while trying to reach Sicily.

Most of those on board were from Eritrea and Somalia

More than 100 bodies have so far been recovered, with more thought to be located in the wreck

Interior Minister Angelino Alfano visited the island on Thursday evening

Bodies were taken to a hangar at the airport, because the island's mortuary couldn't cope