CAIRO, Sept 23 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt’s state media reported on Friday that  60 more bodies were recovered at sea where a migrant boat capsized, bringing the death toll to 148.

The boat which was carrying hundreds, estimated between 450 and 600 migrants, capsized on Wednesday in the Mediterranean Sea off Burg Rashid, a village in the northern Beheira province.

The migrants, including Egyptians, Syrians and Africans, were believed to be heading to Italy, a main destination for illegal migrants across the Mediterranean. 

The spokesman of the province of Beheira told state TV that the number of those rescued reached 163. 

On Thursday, four people suspected of human trafficking were arrested after the incident.

According to the International Organisation for Migrants, a total of “298,474 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2016 through 18 September, arriving mostly in Greece and Italy.”

Conflicts and dire economic conditions in the Middle East and African countries pushed millions of migrants and refugees to cross over to Europe to flee poverty and war.