CAIRO, Sept 27(Aswat Masriya) - The number of bodies recovered in the aftermath of a migrant boat capsize has reached 202, the state-owned Al-Ahram reported on Tuesday.

The boat, which carried an estimated 600 migrants, capsized on Wednesday in the Mediterranean Sea off Burg Rashid, a village in the northern Beheira province.

A search is still underway for the hundreds of bodies that remain missing at sea.

Search groups are currently also trying to retrieve bodies from the refrigerator of the boat, where fishermen usually store fish.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that it believed at least 450 people were aboard the vessel and that about 300 met their death, Reuters reported.

Egypt security sources, however, initially said there had been almost 600 migrants aboard.

A total of 298,474 migrants and refugees entered Europe by sea in 2016 until September 18, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said earlier this month.

The IOM added that they mostly arrived 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.