EUROPEAN officials honored the dead of the Mediterranean’s worst-ever migrant disaster Thursday as more would-be refugees arrived in Italy and prosecutors questioned the suspected smugglers.

    Twenty-four caskets containing the only bodies recovered from the weekend capsizing that left an estimated 800 dead were laid out for an interfaith memorial service on the grounds of Malta’s main hospital.

    Wails from members of Malta’s African community punctuated the ceremony, which included Christian and Muslim prayers.

    “We mourn them, because irrespective of our creed, nationality, race, we know that they are our fellow human beings,” Gozo Bishop Mario Grech said.

    Malta’s president and prime minister, Italy’s interior minister and the EU’s migration commissioner attended.

    “Europe is declaring war on smugglers, and the union will collaborate with international partners,” EU Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos told a news conference after the memorial.

    With no known families to return their remains to, the men will be buried in common graves in Malta’s Addolorata Cemetery.

    Only 28 people survived the capsizing of the migrant boat last weekend and 24 bodies were recovered, including that of an adolescent whose remains were placed in the lone white casket for burial.

    EU leaders are holding an emergency summit later to find ways to stem the number of people risking their lives.

    Draft proposals for the meeting of EU leaders later Thursday include offering 5,000 places for resettlement for migrants “qualifying for protection” under a pilot project.

    Leaders are also expected to commit to “undertaking systematic efforts to identify, capture and destroy vessels before they are used by traffickers.”

    A draft document circulated ahead of the meeting says EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini “is invited to immediately begin preparations for a possible security and defense policy operation to this effect, in accordance with international law.” Other plans include supporting U.N. efforts to help form a stable government in Libya.

    (SD-Agencies)