At least 14 dead as boat capsizes off Sicily

AT LEAST 14 people died yesterday when a boat loaded with illegal immigrants from Liberia for capsized off the southern coast of Sicily, coastguard officials said.

Police sources said there might be more bodies inside the wreckage of the sunken 10-meter (33 feet) vessel, but divers were forced to suspend rescue efforts yesterday afternoon due to heavy seas and zero visibility.

“We'll try to get down again later, but it depends on the weather,” said a spokesman for the coastguard in Porto Empedocle, near the town of Agrigento. “We hope to lift the wreckage tomorrow and bring it ashore.”