A people trafficker apprehended in Italy has been sentenced to 18 years in jail for causing a shipwreck in 2013 in which 366 people perished.
A court in Sicily convicted Khaled Bensalem, 36, from Tunisia, of causing the shipwreck and the deaths as well as aiding illegal immigration, according to a judicial source.
The sentence was reduced by a third from the possible maximum penalty because it was a fast-track trial which reduces jail time for defendants who admit guilt.
The vessel went down off the island of Lampedusa. It was one of the worst recorded tragedies involving illegal migrants in recent years. It prompted Italy to begin its search and rescue mission.
But an even greater disaster saw the deaths of 800 migrants in April this year which shook even the European Union into taking some action.
Already this year 137,000 souls fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East have made it by sea to European, mostly Italian, shores, according to the United Nations.
