The death toll from a shipwreck off Italy’s southern coast rose to 64 on Tuesday, while three people were arrested on suspicion of human trafficking, officials said.
The “alleged smugglers” held after Sunday’s shipwreck of a boat carrying migrants to Europe included two Pakistanis and a Turkish national, a police spokesman told AFP.
Italian coastguards on Tuesday morning recovered another body on the beach in Steccato, in the southern region of Calabria, bringing the death toll to 64, a fire service spokesman told AFP.
He said the death toll was expected to rise, although it was unclear how many people were on the boat.
The coffins of the dead have been laid out in the sports hall in Crotone, to allow the mourners to pay their respects.
The wooden boat overloaded with migrants broke apart and sank early Sunday in stormy seas, with bodies, shoes and debris washed ashore.
The European Union’s border agency, Frontex, had previously spotted a boat with about 200 people sailing to Italy, but two patrol boats sent by Italian authorities were unable to intercept the boat due to bad weather.
The Italian coast guard on Sunday said there were 150 people on board, and 79 survivors were rescued.