More bodies were recovered on Friday after a migrant boat capsized two days earlier, bringing the death toll to 166, reported state-run MENA news agency.

The boat which was carrying hundreds, estimated between 450 and 600 migrants, capsized on Wednesday in the Mediterranean Sea off Burg Rashid, a village in the northern Beheira province.

Search is underway for bodies still missing at sea.

The migrants, including Egyptians, Syrians and Africans, were believed to be heading to Italy, a main destination for illegal migrants across the Mediterranean.

Some 163 migrants were rescued, the spokesman of the province of Beheira told state TV on Friday.

Conflicts and dire economic conditions in the Middle East and African countries pushed millions of migrants and refugees to cross over to Europe to flee poverty and war.