Lampedusa death toll rises

Authorities say a further 38 bodies have been recovered following the Lampedusa boat tragedy, taking the death toll to 232. Scores more are believed missing; most, if not all, were Eritreans trying to reach Europe in search of asylum and a better life.

"They unpacked a wall of people," said Navy Capt. Paolo Trucco of the deep sea specialists. The bodies "were so entwined, one with the other, it is indescribable. They were so trapped they were difficult to pull out."

Deep sea divers in their weighted suits and sturdy port-holed helmets were able to spend up to 30 minutes at a time at the site of the wreck 47 metres below the surface.

More than 180 bodies have been recovered after a boat carrying migrants sank off the Italian island of Lampedusa last Thursday, the Italian authorities said.

Italian police confirmed divers have recovered about 10 bodies from the waters off Lampedusa today.

Financial police Maj. Leonardo Ricci said the search and recovery would continue "as long as the sea is calm and there is light."

The search resumed this morning after being suspended for two days because of bad weather.

Divers are resuming their search for bodies from the boat that sank of the Italian island of Lampedusa last Thursday.

Financial police Major Leonardo Ricci said divers would begin to search again today, "as long as the sea is calm and there is light."

The search has been suspended for the past two days due to rough seas.

Read: Bad weather hampering Lampedusa search and rescue

As many as 250 remain missing. There are 155 survivors and 111 bodies recovered, so far.

Italian rescue teams are continuing to try and recover bodies from a sunken ship in the Mediterranean despite bad weather. More than 100 people - mostly migrants from Africa - were killed when the vessel capsized off the Italian island of Lampedusa on Thursday. Another 200 are still missing.

Neil Connery reports:

A flotilla of Italian fishermen sailed into the choppy waters off Lampedusa to drop a bouquet of yellow flowers near the spot of a shipwreck to honour more than 100 African migrants drowned.

The search to recover more bodies has been called off for a second day because of the bad weather conditions. Up to 200 migrants are still missing.

Residents of Lampedusa held a candlelit vigil on Friday night in memory of more than 110 African migrants who died when their boat caught fire and capsized off the coast of the small Italian island.

Bad weather has hampered the search for missing bodies. In one of the worst disasters of Europe's immigration crisis, the death toll from the shipwreck is thought to be over 300.

The boat's passengers were mostly migrants from Eritrea and Somalia.

Bad weather is hampering the search and rescue mission around the island of Lampedusa, where more than 200 people are still said to be in the sea after a boat carrying around 500 people, mainly from Eritrea and Somalia sank on Thursday.

• 111 bodies have been found
• 155 people have been pulled out alive
• More than 200 are said to still be in the sea around the island

• Of the bodies recovered so far, 58 were men, 49 were women and two were children
• Italian officials say there could be more woman than men on the sunken boat
• Among the survivors only four are women

More than 100 bodies have been recovered from the waters of Lampuseda and it's thought that around the same number have yet to be recovered.

ITV News Correspondent Paul Davies reports:

Read: Migrants perilous journey bo reach Europe

The emotional rescue of one of the Lampedusa boat victims has been captured on video by fishermen and shows the Eritrean man begging his rescuers to save others from drowning.