More than three months after the shipwreck off the coast of Calabria in southern Italy, Italian authorities have said they're ending the search for bodies. The tragedy, one of the deadliest involving migrants in recent years, claimed at least 94 lives.
On Tuesday (May 30), Italian authorities announced they were no longer searching for victims of the February 26 disaster off the southern Italian town of Cutro that killed at least 94 migrants.
A group of around 180 migrants had set off with their wooden boat from Western Turkey. Stormy weather caused the boat to capsize off Calabria.
80 people survived the shipwreck, which means some six people could still be missing. Among the victims were 28 minors.
Read more: Germany takes in 32 survivors of Cutro shipwreck
Search coordination center shut down
A coordination center that handled the search is being shut down, news agency Reuters reported citing the government provincial office in the nearby city of Crotone. In case any more bodies were discovered, however, the coordination center would be reactivated.
According to the government provincial office, 48 of the recovered bodies were repatriated to Afghanistan by plane to be buried. Other bodies were transported to Tunisia, Iran, Palestine and Pakistan, Reuters reported. Still others were buried in Finland, Germany and Italy.
In the wake of the tragedy, the conservative government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni sharply raised criminal penalties against migrant smugglers whose actions result in death. However, Meloni denied any blame for the shipwreck despite her hard line on immigration and private sea rescue in the Mediterranean.
In late March, survivors of the shipwreck along with a 17-year-old Pakistani national accused of smuggling as an alleged crew member appeared in an Italian court. In late April, Austrian authorities returned one of the suspected smugglers of the boat -- a 27-year-old Turkish national -- to Italy following his arrest near the city of Graz, news agency AP reported.
Prosecutors in Crotone, moreover, are investigating the shipwreck and the rescue operations.
Read more: Italy: First application of 'Cutro decree', 15 traffickers detained