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Death toll up to 194 in migrant boat sinking in Italy

UN General Assembly on International Migration stands and holds a Moment of Silence for the victims of the Lampedusa disaster, where a boat carrying over 500 migrants from North Africa to Italy caught fire and sank killing at least 194 people on board. About 169 people are still missing in the waters off the island of Lampedusa. (UPI/UN/Ryan Brown)
UN General Assembly on International Migration stands and holds a Moment of Silence for the victims of the Lampedusa disaster, where a boat carrying over 500 migrants from North Africa to Italy caught fire and sank killing at least 194 people on board. About 169 people are still missing in the waters off the island of Lampedusa. (UPI/UN/Ryan Brown)

LAMPEDUSA, Italy, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Divers recovered dozens of bodies from the wreckage of a boat carrying African immigrants that sank last week, bringing the death toll to 194, ANSA reported.

About 169 people are still missing in the waters off the island of Lampedusa after the recovery Sunday of 83 bodies, the news service reported Monday.

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The boat was one of many that regularly smuggle immigrants from North Africa onto Sicily and other Italian islands. The vessel's motor died off Lampedusa and then caught fire when the skipper lit a signal fire on the deck to attract attention.

The boat was carrying about 518 migrants, mostly Eritreans and Somalis.

The BBC said 155 survivors were picked up, mainly by fishing boats in the area. The Italian coast guard has denied it was slow to respond to the report of the sinking.

Italian Integration Minister Cecile Kyenge visited Lampedusa Sunday and called for the reform of Italy's tough immigration law, which makes being an undocumented migrant a criminal offense, ANSA said.

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