A Child Made This Drawing Of The Boat Accident That Killed Hundreds Of African Asylum Seekers

More than 200 bodies have been recovered after a ship carrying about 500 of African asylum seekers sank near the Italian coast, according to the AFP.

On October 3, the boat caught fire and sank about half a mile from the island of Lampedusa.

As many as 300 people are feared dead.

According to the UN, more than 40,000 have fled North Africa and landed on the island in 2013 alone.

The accident pushed the United Nations' High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres to condemn the lack of legal options for asylum seekers, saying "There is something fundamentally wrong in a world where people in need of protection have to resort to these perilous journeys."

After the sinking, Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie visited the island, meeting with some migrants who successfully made the trip.

But more than any comment or high-profile appearance, this drawing from a Lampedusa elementary school student makes the tragedy hit home. With the name "Anna Maria" in the top left corner, it shows a boat on fire and tilting upward, with people waving their arms in the water.

A child's drawing in an elementary school on Italy island Lampedusa illustrates the deadly asylum-seeker shipwreck pic.twitter.com/IQBwtI6xSf

- Agence France-Presse (@AFP) October 7, 2013

Mass deaths of those seeking new lives in Europe are now fodder for elementary school art.