06:48
Tieng Anh Vui
The BBC's Julian Miglierini says the migrants had almost made it to the coast, sinking just 800m away
Divers have resumed work to recover the bodies of more than 250 African migrants missing since their boat sank off Lampedusa island on Thursday.
Weather conditions that hampered recovery for two days have now improved. So far, 111 bodies have been recovered, and 155 people survived.
The authorities have denied allegations that they were slow to mount a rescue.
France has called for an urgent meeting of EU, after Italian calls for European help to tackle the migrant influx.
A man from Eritrea is rescued: "You have to search"
Tens of thousands of migrants attempt the perilous crossing from North Africa to Sicily and other Italian islands each year, and accidents are common - but this week's shipwreck was among the deadliest on record.
'Clandestine immigration'
The survivors are to be placed under investigation for "clandestine immigration", as provided for by a controversial immigration law pushed through by right-wing parties in 2002. The offence carries a 5,000-euro (£4,230; $6,780) fine.
Italy has said it will amend immigration laws. Members of parliament have complained that some of its provisions discourage people from helping migrants in distress.
The fisherman who arrived first at the site of the accident, Vito Fiorino, has accused the coast guard of wasting time by filming footage of rescue efforts.
"They refused to take on board some people we'd already saved because they said protocol forbade it," he was quoted as saying by Ansa news agency.
A report in local newspaper La Sicilia said two boats belonging to Italy's Financial Guard, which carries out a range of police and rescue duties, had remained in port.
The coast guard denied that there was any delay in its rescue effort.
"After we received the alarm by radio at 07:00 we immediately intervened with out boats, arriving on at the site of the shipwreck at 07:20," it said in a statement.
Key migrant routes to southern Europe
Why people flee Eritrea and Somalia
Eritrea:
- UN says 3,000 people try to flee each month
- Human rights groups say the country is becoming a giant jail, with some 10,000 political prisoners
- Young people conscripted to army - sometimes until age of 40
Somalia:
- Much of the country controlled by al-Shabab Islamist militants
- Country ravaged by two decades of war
Judicial authorities said they had no evidence of delays.
And two of the migrants have told the BBC that boats did rescue them, but it took a while.
"After swimming for a long time, probably around three hours, boats started to arrive to rescue us. Rescue boats, small boats, all the boats in the area came to save us, they dragged us out of the water," Futsum, 20, from Eritrea said.
The head of a fishermen's association, Toto Martello, denied in turn reports that three fishermen sailed straight past the scene of the accident.
The 20m (66ft) boat carrying more than 500 people - mostly from Eritrea and Somalia - was approaching Lampedusa early on Thursday when it began taking on water after its motor stopped working. Some of those on board then reportedly 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 vessel.
The boat - which set sail from the Libyan port of Misrata - is thought to have capsized when everyone moved to one side.
Of the bodies recovered so far 58 were men, 49 were women and two were children of one and six years old.
Đăng ký: Tieng Anh Vui
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