AFP, Cairo :
Egypt raised the wreck of a migrant boat Tuesday and recovered at least 33 bodies, taking to 202 the death toll from last week’s sinking off the country’s Mediterranean coast.
Survivors said up to 450 migrants had been crowded aboard the fishing trawler when it keeled over off the port city of Rosetta on September 14, including an estimated 100 in its hold.
The Egyptian military said 163 people had been rescued, meaning the boat would have had at least 365 people on board when it went down en route to Italy, according to official figures.
On Tuesday divers and a salvage vessel belonging to a petroleum company pulled the trawler to the surface some 12 kilometres (eight miles) offshore.
“The boat is being dragged to shore” after bodies trapped in the hold were recovered, Wahdan al-Sayed, spokesman for Beheira province in northern Egypt, told AFP.
Sixteen of the 33 bodies retrieved on Tuesday had been handed over to their relatives, while the rest were still being identified, said the health ministry.
On Monday, police detained the owner of the vessel.
A judicial source said he could face charges of human trafficking and involuntary manslaughter.
The United Nations’ refugee agency said Friday that most of those rescued were Egyptians but they also included migrants from Sudan, Eritrea, Syria and Ethiopians.
“Since 2014, there has been a steady increase in the number of interceptions of refugees and migrants trying to leave Egypt in an irregular manner,” said the UNHCR.
“Many refugees and migrants may be using Egypt as a transit country,” it said, adding 2016 was expected to be the deadliest year on record for Mediterranean crossings by migrants.
Egypt raised the wreck of a migrant boat Tuesday and recovered at least 33 bodies, taking to 202 the death toll from last week’s sinking off the country’s Mediterranean coast.
Survivors said up to 450 migrants had been crowded aboard the fishing trawler when it keeled over off the port city of Rosetta on September 14, including an estimated 100 in its hold.
The Egyptian military said 163 people had been rescued, meaning the boat would have had at least 365 people on board when it went down en route to Italy, according to official figures.
On Tuesday divers and a salvage vessel belonging to a petroleum company pulled the trawler to the surface some 12 kilometres (eight miles) offshore.
“The boat is being dragged to shore” after bodies trapped in the hold were recovered, Wahdan al-Sayed, spokesman for Beheira province in northern Egypt, told AFP.
Sixteen of the 33 bodies retrieved on Tuesday had been handed over to their relatives, while the rest were still being identified, said the health ministry.
On Monday, police detained the owner of the vessel.
A judicial source said he could face charges of human trafficking and involuntary manslaughter.
The United Nations’ refugee agency said Friday that most of those rescued were Egyptians but they also included migrants from Sudan, Eritrea, Syria and Ethiopians.
“Since 2014, there has been a steady increase in the number of interceptions of refugees and migrants trying to leave Egypt in an irregular manner,” said the UNHCR.
“Many refugees and migrants may be using Egypt as a transit country,” it said, adding 2016 was expected to be the deadliest year on record for Mediterranean crossings by migrants.
