"We paid nine thousand dinars for the crossing and we sailed for three days... Then once we arrived near the coastline, the boat started to lean on one side and we were told to get off the boat. We dived into the sea, those who knew how to swim reached the coast. The others did not make it."

This is how 16-year-old Abdel* begins his account of the journey from Tunisia, which ended in tragedy for five others - their bodies were recovered from a Sicilian beach, between Marinella di Selinunte and Porto Palo di Menfi, in the days after shipwreck.

'We were 60 on board, we did not sleep for two nights'

Since Saturday, Abdel and six other migrants who were on the boat with him have been staying at a reception center managed by the Red Cross in Castelvetrano.

Walking around the center of town with two friends – also 16 years old – who were returning from the supermarket, he said with a smile: "I bought some candies."

"We were 60 on board, we did not eat or drink but no one beat us. We did not sleep for two nights," Abdel recalled.

"When we arrived at the beach, we started walking in the dark and I realized there were also two women with us."

After staying in Castelvetrano for a few days, Abdel will be transferred to a community for minors.

Search for survivors suspended

Due to the strong wind from South East in the Mediterranean on the morning of October 30, the search at sea for migrants who went missing when disembarking on Friday night in Marinella di Selinunte was suspended.

The search will continue by land along the beach between the mouth of the river Belice and Porto Palo of Menfi, with the assistance of firefighters and the scuba-diving section of Palermo.

*Name changed