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24 unidentified dead migrants buried in Malta

Xinhua, April 23, 2015 Adjust font size:

An inter-faith service was held Thursday at a hospital here for 24 unidentified dead migrants who were among over 800 lives lost in the Mediterranean Sea on Saturday.

Bouquets of flowers, which were sent by local people after an appeal made by Mater Dei Hospital CEO Ivan Falzon, lined up the area where the coffins of the unidentified victims were laid, as a symbol of sorrow for the hundreds of lives lost off the coast of Libya.

The youngest of these victims was only 10 years old and his body was carried in a white casket.

Maltese President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, opposition leader Simon Busuttil, EU Commissioner on Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos, Italian Home Affairs Minister Angelino Alfano, attended the ceremony together with other officials and diplomats.

A private service followed and the bodies were taken for burial in the common graves of the Addolorata Cemetery.

More than 800 migrants are believed by Italian prosecutors to have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea after their packed boat capsized on Saturday night. Endi