Migrant boat tragedy death toll over 60; dozens missing

The death toll rose to at least 63 in the migrant tragedy off Italy's southern coast after rescue crews recovered several more bodies Monday, driving home once again the desperate and dangerous boat crossings of people seeking to reach Europe. Dozens more were believed to be missing.

At least eight of the dead were children who perished after a wooden boat broke up in stormy seas on the shoals off the Calabrian coast Sunday. Eighty people survived.

“Many of them didn't know how to swim and they saw people disappear in the waves; they saw them die,” said Giovanna Di Benedetto of Doctors Without Borders, which sent psychologists to help survivors.

More were feared dead given survivor accounts that the boat, which set off from Turkey last week, was carrying about 170 people.

State TV quoted Carabinieri paramilitary police as saying Monday night that two more bodies were recovered later in the day, but a few hours later the rescue coordination center said only one body had been recovered in the afternoon. The discrepancy wasn't immediately explained.

The center also said in a statement that two Coast Guard vessels and one border police boat would keep up the search overnight, while on Tuesday morning, two helicopters and specialized divers would resume their search.

Authorities in the southern city of Crotone asked relatives to provide descriptions and photos of loved ones to help identify the dead in a makeshift morgue at a sports arena.

Fazal Amin, himself a migrant from Pakistan, waited outside the stadium in Crotone for information about a friend's brother in Turkey whose phone stopped working.

“He just wants to know if he is dead or alive,” Amin said.

Italian authorities rejected criticism of a delayed rescue, noting they had dispatched two rescue boats shortly after the European Union's border agency spotted the 20-foot boat Saturday night as it headed toward shore. The rescuers had to turn back because of the rough seas, the authorities said.