BLANTYRE, Malawi (June 21, 2012)--A boat carrying about 60 illegal immigrants from Ethiopia capsized on Lake Malawi, and all aboard are feared drowned, Malawi police said Thursday.

Forty-seven bodies had been recovered so far, police spokeswoman Norah Chimwala said Thursday.

The accident happened near Karonga, about 400 miles north of Lilongwe, the capital, on Monday night.

Villagers started seeing floating bodies Tuesday morning.

Immigrants from troubled countries further north often cross the porous borders between Malawi and Tanzania and Malawi and Mozambique, trying to reach South Africa, home to Africa's strongest economy.