Mediterranean Boat Tragedy Victims Laid To Rest

Hundreds of people, including European officials, have attended funerals in Malta for some of the migrants who drowned in Saturday night's boat disaster off Libya.

Authorities fear that up to 920 migrants died when the ship carrying them capsized in waters between Libya and the Italian island of Lampedusa.

EU leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss launching a military operation to disrupt traffickers and increase search-and-rescue operations to prevent more deaths.

The coffins of the 24 people whose bodies are the only ones to have been recovered from the Mediterranean were carried into the inter-faith service at the Mater Dei hospital by Maltese soldiers.

Malta's president and prime minister, as well as Italy's interior minister, the Greek solidarity minister and the EU's migration commissioner attended the ceremony, which included both Christian and Muslim prayers.

The 24 people have not been identified - their names, nationalities and religions are not known. They were 20 men and four male teenagers.

Mario Grech, the Bishop of Gozo, conducted the service alongside local imam Mohammed El Sadi.

"The migrants were escaping from a desperate situation," the bishop told the mourners. "They were trying to find freedom and seek a better life.

"We mourn them, because irrespective of our beliefs, nationality or race, we know that they are our fellow brethren.

"They are human beings."

The coffins were then driven to Addolorata Cemetery near the village of Paola, for private burials.

:: Click here to see the scale of recent Mediterranean boat disasters

Italian prosecutors have claimed that as many as one million people are waiting in Libya for the chance to get into the traffickers' boats and reach Europe.

Regina Catrambone runs the charity Migrant Offshore Aid Station from Valetta and is preparing for a six-month mercy mission to help rescue people from the Mediterranean.

"People are dying, they are human beings and we have to help them. It's that simple," she told Sky News.

"If I was lost in the woods you would try to find me. They are lost in the sea. If I broke my leg on a pavement you would try to help me.

"They need our help. Now."

Her mission last year lasted for two months and saved 3,000 lives.

She added: "These people are desperate. We cannot stand by and let them die in this graveyard."

The skipper of the capsized boat is facing charges of mass murder.

Tunisian Mohammed Ali Malek, 27, will appear before a judge on Friday along with crew member and Syrian national 25-year-old Mahmud Bikhit.

Meanwhile, around 220 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa who were rescued off the coast of Libya arrived at Catania in Sicily this morning.

The group, which includes four pregnant women, were rescued from a rubber dinghy by the Italian coastguard.

:: The 10-Point action plan on migration includes reinforcements and information sharing