At least 97 asylum seekers have died after their boat sank off the coast of Syria. The boat had left Lebanon and was trying to reach Italy. One survivor, Ibrahim Mansour, spoke to Al Jazeera from a hospital bed.

Ibrahim Mansour: “I cry all the time. I’m in shock. I saw bodies and horrible images. My heart hurts. I tried to help children and another man, Abed. I tried to keep their spirits alive, but I couldn’t. This is hurting me, especially because of the child who was holding onto me before I lost him. They told me he died.”

The dead included 24 children and 31 women. Most of the boat’s passengers were Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians. It was one of the deadliest boat disasters in the eastern Mediterranean.