Brussels, 03/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmström, has said that she is very concerned and upset by the tragedy off the Lampedusa coast on Thursday morning that led to the deaths of many mainly Somali and Eritrean migrants. At least 133 bodies had been counted by the end of the afternoon, among them children. One hundred and fifty-one people survived. The Commissioner is currently in New York for the United Nations dialogue on migration and, speaking on Twitter, called for the fight against human traffickers to be stepped up. After speaking to her Italian counterpart, Angelino Alfano, on the telephone, the Commissioner announced that she would travel to the scene of the tragedy and that the subject would be on the agenda of the Ministers for Home Affairs on Tuesday 8 October in Luxembourg. The boat was carrying between 450 and 500 migrants and according to the Italian media, after the boat's passengers had lit distress flares, the fuel on board had caught alight and had burst into flames. This tragedy comes just a few days after the deaths of 13 other migrants off the coast of Sicily. The Pope has described this new tragedy as “shameful” and certain MEPs have said that the disaster could have been avoided by, “improved coordination and more solidarity between member states”, as explained by Jan Mulder (ALDE, Netherlands) in a press release. The Italian Minister for Home Affairs has called on the EU for assistance and described this tragedy as being European and not just Italian. Commissioner Malmström pointed out that the EUROSUR system, which would be operational by the end of the year, would help to spot boats better and improve the exchange of information between coastguards. (SP/transl.fl)