POZZALLO – Police have arrested two more smugglers who piloted the so-called “death boat” of Pozzallo, in which 45 immigrants perished this week, police sources said.

The two men are from Senegal and their arrest follows that of another Senegalese and a youth from Gambia also accused of people smuggling between Libya and Sicily . The group is accused of aiding illegal immigration and of homicide.

            The bodies found on the boat were of 45 males, all of them over 18 and coming from Central Africa. The remains have been brought to the Sicilian town of Pozzallo, where the results of autopsies are expected in the next few days.

            The rusting boat contained as many as 600 people, more than double the recommended number. First reports said there were 30 corpses on board but subsequently police discovered a total of 45 people dead from asphyxiation on the vessel.

 jp-fm