LAMPEDUSA, Italy: Italian authorities on Friday were trying to identify the bodies of 27 people who died when two crowded boats sank off the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa.
One wooden coffin, marked with an “X,” could be seen at the local cemetery, where the bodies of some of the victims were being held, an AFP journalist said.
Broadcaster Rai reported that some of the coffins would be transported to Sicily for burial in several cemeteries there.
Lampedusa, just 90 miles (145 kilometers) off the coast of Tunisia, is often the first point of arrival for people trying to reach Europe in fragile or overcrowded boats.
Its reception center is currently home to 317 people, including about 70 mostly unaccompanied minors, said Giovanna Stabile of the Italian Red Cross, which runs the facility.
