Rome, Shawwal 22, 1436, Aug 7, 2015, SPA -- Survivors of a migrant boat that capsized off Libya as rescuers approached told investigators their smugglers used violence to keep people in the vessel's hold, increasing fears that more than 200 died trapped inside, police in Sicily said Friday. The five suspected smugglers were detained a day earlier in Palermo as they disembarked, along with 362 survivors, from an Irish naval vessel that helped in Wednesday's rescue, police said. Six other migrants who survived were helicoptered from sea to the hospital. Twenty-six bodies have been recovered. The suspects were arrested for investigation of multiple counts of manslaughter and aiding illegal immigration, and are accused of belonging to a criminal organization based in Libya, from where the overcrowded, unseaworthy vessels set sail, AP reported. --SPA 20:42 LOCAL TIME 17:42 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w
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