The Calabrian coastal town of Cutro on Saturday marked the six-month anniversary of the February 26 shipwreck in which 94 refugees and migrants including 35 children lost their lives.
On the initiative on local online newspaper CrotoneNews, residents gathered on the beach at 4:30 am, the hour at which a fishing boat thought to be carrying 180 people ran aground and broke up in stormy seas a short distance from the shore after four days' sailing from Turkey, and lit a candle for each of the victims and read out their names.
Ramzi Labidi of the association Sabir read the opening surah of the Qur'an, and actor Francesco Pupa read a secular prayer.
"Six months after the tragedy, it was only right to commemorate those who lost their lives at sea," said Vincenzo Montalcini, editor of CrotoneNews.
"We did so by lighting candles in a call to shed light on what happened," he added.
80 people survived the tragedy and several people could still be missing.
Local prosecutors opened an investigation into the shipwreck amid claims the Italian authorities did not do enough to prevent it from happening.
The right-centre government of Premier Giorgia Meloni subsequently passed a broad package of measures aiming to clamp down on irregular migration and human trafficking.
These are expected to be followed by the introduction of further restrictions in a new security decree next month as refugees and migrants continue to make the perilous sea crossing to Italy in search of safety and a better life in Europe.
Source: Ansa News Agency (ANA)