Italy mourns 300 feared dead in migrant shipwreck

Italy today mourned the 300 African asylum-seekers feared dead in the worst ever Mediterranean refugee disaster, as the government appealed for Europe to stem the influx of migrants.
As the grim search for bodies off the island of Lampedusa continued, an emotional Pope Francis said today should be "a day of tears" for a "savage world" that ignored the plight of refugees.
Emergency services on the remote island -- Italy's southernmost point -- said they had recovered 111 bodies so far and rescued 155 survivors from a boat with an estimated 450 to 500 people on board.
Divers who explored the wreck spoke of seeing dozens of bodies in and around the ship and rescuers said more bodies may have been swept further out to sea by strong currents.

Divers were unable to descend to the wreck today because of choppy conditions but coast guard vessels scoured the surface for more corpses.
"After these deaths, we are expecting something to change. Things cannot stay the same," the mayor of Lampedusa, Giusi Nicolini, told reporters.

"The future of Lampedusa is directly linked to policies on immigration and asylum," she said.
Interior Minister Angelino Alfano appealed for greater European assistance in patrolling Italy's southern maritime border and more action in Africa to stem the flow of perilous refugee crossings.
"This sea is the border between Africa and Europe, not between Africa and Sicily," he said during a visit to the island, adding that he would meet the EU's Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem in Brussels next week to discuss the issue.

"This is not just an Italian problem," he said.
Alfano also said the EU's Dublin regulation that forces asylum-seekers to remain in the European country where they first arrive "puts too large a burden" on southern European states like Italy.
The badly overcrowded 20-metre vessel caught fire, capsized and sank yesterday just a few hundred metres from Lampedusa, as its terrified passengers jumped into the sea.
The migrants were Eritreans and Somalis and their boat had departed from the Libyan port of Misrata.
A suspected Tunisian crew member has been detained as prosecutors investigated the tragedy.
Flags flew at half mast across Italy and schools held a minute of silence for the victims while President Giorgio Napolitano has called for the abolition of a law against facilitating illegal immigration that penalises potential rescuers.