Italy navy finds what is thought to be capsized migrant boat with 800 migrants

Migrants have identification photos taken as they disembark from the Italian Financial Police ship Monte Cimone, that earlier rescued them at sea among nearly 100 others, at Catania's harbor, Sicily, southern Italy, Wednesday, May 6, 2015. The 98 migrants, a third of them women and three of them pregnant, were among hundreds of would-be refugees who arrived in Italian ports Wednesday after being rescued from overcrowded dinghies and fishing boats in recent days. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) (The Associated Press)

Migrants sit on the Catania harbor after being disembarked by the Italian Financial Police ship Monte Cimone that earlier rescued them at sea, Sicily, southern Italy, Wednesday, May 6, 2015. The 98 migrants rescued by the Monte Cimone, a third of them women and three of them pregnant, were among hundreds of would-be refugees who arrived in Italian ports Wednesday after being rescued from overcrowded dinghies and fishing boats in recent days. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) (The Associated Press)

Migrants disembark from the Italian Financial Police ship Monte Cimone that earlier rescued them at sea, at Catania's harbor, Sicily, southern Italy, Wednesday, May 6, 2015. The 98 migrants rescued by the Monte Cimone, a third of them women and three of them pregnant, were among hundreds of would-be refugees who arrived in Italian ports Wednesday after being rescued from overcrowded dinghies and fishing boats in recent days. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni) (The Associated Press)

Italian navy ships have located what is believed to be the fishing boat that capsized April 18 with an estimated 800 migrants aboard.

Using sonar and a submarine, the navy said Thursday it had located a blue, 25-meter (82-foot) vessel matching the description of the doomed boat some 85 miles northeast of the Libyan coast. It was resting on the seabed some 375 meters (1,230 feet) under water, a statement said.

A navy official said at such depths the boat could be raised, but that any decision to do so rested with Sicilian prosecutors who are conducting the criminal investigation into the deaths.

The capsizing set off a new round of soul-searching in Europe about how to handle the record waves of migrants leaving Libya aboard smugglers' boats.