Migrant crisis: Sunken boat 'found in Mediterranean'

The Italian navy believes it has found a boat that sank in the Mediterranean, leaving at least 800 migrants dead.

The three-deck boat sank near the Libyan coast three weeks ago, in what the UN has called the deadliest ever incident in the Mediterranean.

On Wednesday, the Italian navy said it had found a boat 375m (1,230 feet) below on the sea bed.

Sicilian prosecutors, who are investigating the tragedy, must now decide whether it will be raised.

Only 28 people survived after the boat crashed into a merchant ship - four were children. Rescuers found only 24 bodies at the scene.

Italian prosecutors say the migrants paid between $700 (£460) and $7,000 (£4,600) to be on board, having been forced to stay on a farm in Libya for up to a month before the journey.

While there, prosecutors say, the migrants were subject to abuse and there are reports of deaths due to violence and exhaustion.

On Thursday, the navy said it had found a blue, 25-metre (86 foot) boat on the sea bed that matched the description of the vessel that sank.

Two men - the boat's Tunisian captain and a crew member - are being investigated on a number of charges, including suspected culpable homicide and illegal confinement.

The UN says 60,000 people have tried to cross the Mediterranean so far this year. Close to 1,800 people have died trying to reach Europe.

In the most recent reported incident, 100 migrants were brought to Sicily on Wednesday evening following a rescue. They said their boat had been adrift near the island for 12 days, the last two of which without food and water.