LAMPEDUSA, Italy -- Italian divers have recovered 38 more bodies from a smugglers' boat that capsized and sank to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea with hundreds of migrants on board.

Monday's discovery brought the confirmed death toll from last week's tragedy to 232 before the operation was suspended for the day at nightfall.

Only 155 of the estimated 500 people on board survived the sinking. Scores of bodies are believed to be still trapped in the hull of the 18-metre boat, which is resting 47 metres below the surface.

Monday was the first day that divers entered the hull. Coast Guard Capt. Filippo Marini estimated it would take two more days to complete the search and recovery mission.