Lampedusa migrant boat tragedy: EC chief heckled

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso arrived at the island with Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta on Wednesday.

As a part of his trip, Mr Barroso announced that Italy would receive an additional €30m in EU funds to help settle refugees. His visit also follows an agreement with EU interior ministers to strengthen the patrol capabilities of Frontex, the European border management agency.

‘Shame’

However, a handful of Lampedusa residents heckled the European leader, shouting “shame” and “idiots” as officials arrived on the island.

Lampedusans have long complained that they have been “forgotten” by Italy and the EU, and left to cope with thousands of migrants each year.

Lampedusa is close to the African coast, and boats carrying migrants arrive at the island on a daily basis. Once there, migrants are processed, with many of them being sent back to the countries they came from.

Around 500 migrants from Eritrea and Somalia were aboard the boat that sank at the start of the month.

The official death toll from the tragedy is 275, but divers are still searching for around 40 people that are thought to have been trapped in the submerged wreckage of the boat.

Mr Letta announced that a state funeral would be held for the dead migrants.

Arrest

On Tuesday evening, police arrested a Tunisian man suspected to have been driver of the boat.

The boat is reported to have caught fire when flares were fired to catch the attention of passing ships. It has also been reported that the boat then capsized when passengers ran to one side of the ship to escape the flames.

The Tunisian man was taken by authorities off a ferry at the Sicilian port of Porto Empedocle. He had been among the 155 survivors of the shipwreck and had been moved to a holding centre on the island.

After questioning of the survivors, the suspect was identified and taken away for further investigation.