Italy migrant boat sinking: at least 130 dead including children and pregnant woman Disaster occurred when the boat's motor stopped working Three children and two pregnant women were among the victims Bodies fished from the water were laid out along the quayside By Jill Reilly and Hannah Roberts In Rome At least 130 people are now thought to have been killed after a migrant boat capsized off the coast of Italy. Another 250 people are still missing after the boat packed with African migrants caught fire and sank just south of Lampedusa. Witnesses described 'a cemetery in the sea' as scores of lifeless bodies floated in waters off the Mediterranean island. The coastguard said that of more than 500 people believed to be on board, 159 had been rescued. Only three of about 100 women on board were pulled from the water, and no children have been saved so far. The disaster occurred when the boat's motor stopped working and the vessel began to take on water, Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said. People on board burned a sheet to attract the attention of rescuers, starting a fire on board. This afternoon it was revealed that Italian divers have seen at least another 20 bodies around a migrant boat on the sea floor raising the death toll to at least 114 people. But that figure is now thought to have risen to at least 130 with 103 bodies so far recovered. One woman, who was initially thought to be dead was revived by medical personnel after she was brought back to the port. Coastguard Commander Floriana Segreto says 'divers of the coastguard have found the boat on the sea floor at a depth of 40 metres (130 ft). ... The divers have yet to go inside the boat. She added that they are waiting for the weather to improve and will then start recovering more bodies. Rising death toll: Military personnel bring bodies to the back of a waiting ambulance after they were pulled out of the Mediterranean Rescue operation: Emergency workers continue to add body bags to those already lined up on the harbour Emergency situation: A coastguard vessel heads away from the harbour after unloading body bags containing African migrants who drowned in the tragedy Soldiers from the Italian Army unload bodies on to the harbour today 'Once the fire started, there was a concern about the boat sinking and everyone moved to one side, causing the boat to go down,' he told a news conference. The 20-metre (66 ft) vessel sank no more than 1 km (half a mile) from shore. Bodies fished from the water were laid out along the quayside as the death toll rose in what looked like one of the worst disasters to hit the perilous route for migrants seeking to reach Europe from Africa. 'It's horrific, like a cemetery, they are still bringing them out,' Lampedusa Mayor Giusi Nicolini told reporters. Alfano said three children and two pregnant women were among the victims. Dangerous: Migrants frequently land on Lampedusa, just 113 km (70 miles) from the coast of Tunisia, often picked up at sea in dangerously overcrowded boats by the Italian coastguard Traumatised: A man is helped off the boat following the rescue The disaster happened four days after 13 migrants drowned off eastern Sicily, and Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said action was needed by the European Union to stem 'a succession of massacres of innocent people'. Last year, almost 500 people were reported dead or missing on the crossing from Tunisia to Italy, the U.N. refugee office UNHCR says. Syrians fleeing civil war have added to the numbers. A fishing boat raised the alarm at around 7:20 a.m. (0520 GMT) and began pulling people out of the water before coastguard vessels arrived on the scene. The coastguard said 151 people had been rescued. Tragedy: The ship apparently capsized, spilling the passengers into the sea near Conigli island Between 450 and 500 people, most either Eritreans or Somalis, appeared to have been on board the boat, which had come from Misrata in Libya, Alfano said. 'If they had been able to use a telephone, they could have been saved,' he said. The search for survivors and victims continued within a four nautical mile radius, in water around 30-45 metres deep. Rescuers planned to extend the radius later in the day, in case bodies had been pulled away by the tides, he said. U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres praised the rescue effort, but said: 'I am dismayed at the rising global phenomenon of migrants and people fleeing conflict or persecution and perishing at sea.' Spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration in Rome, Simona Moscarelli, said that the boat capsized after all the migrants moved to one side to escape the fire. She told the BBC that only six of 100 women on board are thought to have survived. Safe: A group of youngsters are brought safely to the shore after the tragedy off the Italian coast Rescue: A woman receives assistance at the Palermo Civico hospital, Italy, after being rescued Treatment: A man is carried off an ambulance to receive treatment Migrants frequently land on Lampedusa, just 113 km (70 miles) from the coast of Tunisia, often picked up at sea in dangerously overcrowded boats by the Italian coastguard. Pope Francis, who visited the island in July on his first papal trip outside Rome, said he felt 'great pain' for the 'many victims of the latest tragic shipwreck today off Lampedusa'. 'The word that comes to mind is 'shame',' Francis said in unscripted remarks after a speech in the Vatican. Let us unite our strengths so that such tragedies never happen again. The stream of migrants is a humanitarian and political problem for the Italian government. About 15,000 reached Italy and Malta - 13,200 and 1,800 respectively - by sea last year, the UNHCR says. Thousands more have arrived this year. Calling the deaths of migrants 'an endless tragedy,' Foreign Minister Emma Bonino said: 'The rescue operation began immediately but it is getting more difficult because now the weather is getting colder, they don't know how to swim, they don't know where to go.' Migrants who arrive in Italy are allowed to apply for asylum. Many of them are ordered to leave the country but often slip away to become illegal immigrants in Italy or elsewhere in the European Union. Coastguards patrol the area where the boat capsized off the coast of Italy Italy has pressed the European Union for more help to fight the crisis which it says concerns the whole bloc. 'This is not an Italian drama, this is a European drama,' Alfano said. Lampedusa has to be considered the frontier of Europe, not the frontier of Italy. In a separate incident today, around 200 migrants were reportedly escorted to the port of Syracuse on the island of Sicily, when their vessel encountered difficulties five miles off the coast. It is the second fatal shipwreck this week in the area, following the death of 13 migrants who drowned off nearby Ragusa. Over the past ten years, 6,200 migrants have died during the perilous crossing. Ruthless human traffickers have been known to force migrants to jump into the sea, to be rescued by passing trawlers. In this way they save on fuel and avoid the threat of the Italian authorities. But fishermen have grown tired of abandoning their catch to ferry hundreds of people to shore. During the summer, calm seas have seen the number of landings on Lampedusa soar, turning the island into an unofficial refugee camp. Jezerca Tigani, of Amnesty International, said: "The waters around Lampedusa have again tragically become a graveyard for migrants. These grim events keep repeating themselves as thousands of people make the perilous trip across the Mediterranean to seek a better life. Italian foreign minister Emma Bonino said there was "no miracle solution" to the migration problem. The accident was "an infinite tragedy," she added.