Nine found dead on immigrant boat washed up in Sicily

The bodies of nine would-be migrants were recovered today from a boat that arrived on Sicily’s southern coast and more people were feared dead.

The boat washed up near Ragusa after rescuers were unable to reach it because of bad weather, said Giuseppe Giacobbe, an official from the port authority in the Sicilian town of Catania.

There were more than 100 survivors on the boat, who said they were from North Africa and that there had been 200 originally on board, Giacobbe said.