Egypt's sunken migrant boat retrieved from sea; 33 more bodies recovered from wreckage

Yasser Shemis in Beheira , Tuesday 27 Sep 2016

The recovered corpses raise the death toll to 202 victims

Rosetta boat
A screenshot from the Facebook Live broadcast of the Petroleum marine services' ship showing the sunken boat retrieved (Photo: Ahram Online)

Thirty-three bodies were retrieved on Tuesday from the wreckage of the migrant boat that capsized in the Mediterranean off the coast of Egypt's Rossetta last week, with the death toll reaching 202 after Egypt's Petroleum Marine Services floated the boat earlier today. 

A live Facebook broadcast by the Petroleum Marine Services showed the floating process and attempts by Egyptian navy personnel to inspect the boat.

The death toll stood at 179 as of Tuesday morning before the boat was floated and new corpses were recovered.

According to eyewitness estimates, the boat was carrying around 450 migrants of several nationalities, including women and children, on a vessel believed to have a maximum capacity of 150 passengers.

At least 52 Egyptian families are reported to have inquired about missing relatives as of Saturday.

Survivors of the deadly incident also said that no less than 100 migrants were inside the cooling storage unit below the deck of the fishing boat.

Four crewmembers were arrested on Thursday and the Beheira prosecution ordered their detention for four days pending investigation.

They are facing charges of human trafficking, wrongful death, wrongful injury and using a fishing boat for another purpose.

Several brokers and human traffickers allegedly involved in the incident were also arrested in the past few days, according to news reports.

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