At least 78 migrants have lost their lives this Wednesday after a fishing boat with hundreds of people on board sank south of the Peloponnese Peninsula, in the Ionian Sea, as reported by the Greek Coast Guard, which, in turn, has warned that ” the death toll will probably increase.”
So far, 106 people have been rescued alive, but it is not clear how many were on board when the ship sank, authorities have said. According to local media, at least 400 migrants were on board the 30-meter-long boat.
The survivors have been transferred to the Greek city of Kalamata, four of whom have been taken by helicopter suffering from hypothermia to the hospital. The Ministry of Shipping has reported that most of the people on board are from Egypt, Syria and Pakistan.
Ten vessels, a Navy frigate, a helicopter and a Frontex drone, the European Union (EU) border agency, are taking part in search and rescue operations.
The coast guard has reported that the 30-meter-long ship, which was heading to Italy, was seen in international waters on Tuesday night by a plane from the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) and two nearby boats, some 50 miles (80 km) southwest of the town of Pylos in southern Greece, “without calling for assistance.”
“In consecutive phone calls by the Operations Room to the ship to give help, a negative response was received. During the afternoon, a Coast Guard ship approached the ship to give food, although the foreigners refused the supplies and any other assistance,” he said.
The Coast Guard has reported that the occupants of the boat “expressed their desire to continue their journey to Italy”, while the Greek authorities remained “close to the boat for the possible delivery of aid”.
A few hours later, the boat capsized and sank, triggering a search and rescue operation.
The authorities have reported that the boat had set sail from the Libyan city of Tobruk, which is located south of the Greek island of Crete, and the majority were young men in their 20s.
Greece is one of the main entry routes into the European Union for migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Most cross to the Greek islands from nearby Turkey, but a growing number of ships also undertake the longer and more dangerous voyage from Turkey to Italy via Greece.
Some 72,000 refugees and migrants have arrived so far this year in European countries such as Italy, Spain, Greece, Malta and Cyprus, according to United Nations data.
