Death toll of the Lampedusa boat disaster has risen to 232 as more bodies were recovered from the sea by divers, CEOAFRICA.com gathered.

It was also disclosed that about 200 people are still missing in the river, but divers have resumed work early hours of today to keep on searching for them.

Divers were able to unpack a wall of people, with copses so entwined with one another that they were difficult to pull out.

The boat caught fire and capsized close to the Sicilian island of Lampedusa.

There were 155 survivors of the accident, which happened about 1km (half a mile) offshore.

This wreck is one of the deadliest of its kind recorded in the Italian city of Sicily.

Our source disclosed that the degree of the wreck is about 47m below the surface, making it difficult for divers to stay longer under the bottom of the sea.

According to Coast Guard diver Rocco Pilon, the most difficult aspect of the job for divers is just beginning.

"I'm sure that the most difficult part of the operation is starting now. Technically it will be much more challenging," he said.

Police diver Riccardo Noble also said that some of the bodies have been seen, but they are still experiencing some difficulties in recovering them.

"Some [bodies] we have found with their arms outstretched. We try not to notice this kind of thing too much, otherwise the task is too difficult.

"We can see a woman's hair floating out of a broken porthole. But we haven't been able to get to her," he said.

The 20m (66ft) boat was carrying more than 500 people, mostly from Eritrea and Somalia.