Lampedusa: Barroso pledges 30m euros for Italy refugee task

Jose Manuel Barroso has said he will never forget seeing all the coffins of children who died when the boat they were in sank off the coast of Lampedusa.

At a news conference on the Sicilian island, the president of the European Commission said Italy would receive an additional 30m euros in EU funds to help settle migrants.

At least 275 people died in the tragedy a week ago.

Emergency workers, fishermen and tourists fished out 155 terrified survivors from the sea; they said they had stayed afloat for hours in waters covered in fuel oil that had spilled from their boat.