by Our Foreign Desk

ITALY buried 13 of the hundreds of refugees drowned when a people-trafficking boat capsized in April yesterday, as other incidents in Greece and France highlighted the ongoing migrant crisis.

The funeral was for the first bodies recovered from the wreck of the boat since the disaster that killed as many as 800 people desperately trying to cross the Mediterranean.

Among those attending the inter-religious funeral in Catania were the mayor and a representative of the Sicilian Islamic Community.

Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s government has vowed to do everything possible to reclaim the bodies from the 1,200-foot depths of the sea.

Authorities say it is unlikely that the victims, like those brought to the surface in the navy operation which began a week ago, will be identified.

Local prosecutors said every corner of the boat, including the hold, was crammed with people. The video of the wreck is being kept sealed to protect the dignity of the dead.

Twenty-eight people survived the disaster, including a suspected smuggler and his alleged assistant, and 24 bodies were found soon after the capsizing.

The suspects are being investigated for alleged manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and aiding and abetting illegal immigration.

Meanwhile, the Greek and Turkish coastguards rescued 21 people and recovered at least one body after a people-trafficking boat sank near two small Greek islands close to the Turkish coast.

The Greek coastguard said 13 of those rescued near the islands of Agathonisi and Farmakoniki were picked up by Turkish authorities, and the other eight by the Greeks.

The survivors told authorities a total of between 37 and 40 people had been on board, and the coastguard said it was still searching for about 15-18 people.

In France, a migrant who stowed away on a lorry in the Channel Tunnel was found dead.

The reported death came shortly after Eurotunnel reported a group of migrants was found on a lorry in the tunnel leading from Calais in northern France.