The search to recover bodies from a fishing boat that sank off the southern Italian island of Lampedusa has been called off for a second day because of bad weather.

Police spokesman Leonardo Ricci said that choppy seas are preventing divers from reaching the wreck, now resting on the seabed. More than 200 people are still missing.

The 20-metre boat packed with migrants sank on Thursday when the ship capsized after they started a fire to attract attention. The migrants had spent two days at sea travelling from Libya. Just 155 people survived and so far, 111 bodies were recovered.

Earlier, a fishing boat flotilla threw a single bouquet of yellow flowers into the sea at the site.

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