An estimated 250-300 bodies
could still be trapped in a migrant vessel that sank off Libya
in the Strait of Sicily in April last year, Navy officials said
Thursday.
The wreck earlier in the day was brought to Augusta port,
where it will be placed under a refrigerated tent 30 meters
long, 20 wide and 10 high so coroners can start recovering and
identifying remains.
The April 18, 2015, shipwreck is thought to be the worst
migrant boat disaster in the Mediterranean so far.
The 28 survivors told rescuers as many as 700 people were
on board, hundreds of them locked in the hold.
Italian Navy divers recovered 169 bodies from around the
wreck site.
Hundreds more may still be missing. The exact number can't
be confirmed because there is no record of how many people
boarded the vessel to begin with.
The recovery of the sunken vessel cost a total of 9.5
million euros, according to Navy Rear Admiral Pietro Covino.
The autopsies on the victims will be carried out for free
by a team coordinated by Professor Cristina Cattaneo from Milan
University's Forensic Medicine Department, made up of doctors
from Catania, Messina and Palermo universities as well as the
State Police.
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