The death toll from Monday's boating incident in the Messina Strait, where a passenger hydrofoil was rammed by a cargo ship, stands at four, authorities confirmed on Tuesday.
Over 80 people were injured in the incident and while most have been hospitalised in Messina, two people in critical condition were airlifted to Reggio Calabria.
The incident took place at 17:53 (local), 23 minutes after the hydrofoil Segesta Jet left Reggio Calabria for Messina with 130 passenger aboard, mostly Sicilian residents who either work or go to school in Calabria.
The hydrofoil was rammed amidships by the Susan Borchard, a container transport ship registered in Antingua Barbuda.
The four victims were all members of the hydrofoil's crew: Captain Sebastiano Mafodda, 54; chief engineer Marcello Sposito, 41; Lauro Palmiro, 50; and Domenico Zona, 42.
The bodies of the first two were recovered from the bridge while those of the latter two were trapped below deck.
Port authority officials are trying to determine the dynamics of the incident and prosecutors in both Reggio Calabria and Messina have opened probes.
A present, human error would appear to be the cause.
However, an unidentified third vessel was said to have been in the vicinity and may have blocked the view of the container ship from the hydrofoil.
