UPDATE - Death toll from Egypt boat tragedy nears 150: Official

*UPDATES WITH HIGHER DEATH TOLL

Khaled al-Geyoshi

CAIRO (AA) – The death toll from a boat carrying undocumented migrants that sank off Egypt’s northern coast earlier this week has risen to 148, a local official said Friday.

"Security forces have recovered 59 more bodies," Wahdan al-Sayed, a spokesman for Egypt’s northern Beheira province, was quoted as saying by state media agencies.

The boat, which had reportedly been carrying hundreds of undocumented migrants of various nationalities, sank Wednesday in the Mediterranean Sea north of Beheira’s port city of Rashid (Rosetta).

Eight bodies were recovered Thursday, including those of eight African nationals and one Egyptian child, local authorities said.

Egypt’s state-run media earlier reported that at least 600 people had been aboard the ill-fated vessel.

Egypt’s Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts are among the main transit routes used by undocumented migrants from Africa and Asia hoping to make the perilous sea journey to Europe.