Hundreds of migrants are still missing after Greek authorities failed to locate any more bodies or survivors from the vessel that sank in one of the most deadly accidents to occur in the Mediterranean Sea.
Authorities on Thursday revised the death toll to 78 from 79 and said 104 people had been rescued after a fishing boat believed to have set off from Libya capsized south-west of the Peloponnese peninsula on Wednesday. Some 400 people were on board, with survivors estimating that more than 100 children were in the ship’s hold.
Greece’s coastguard, navy and merchant vessels and aircraft launched a vast search-and-rescue operation which “will continue in the following days”, an official from the maritime affairs ministry said on Thursday. The rescued passengers, all males including eight minors, were from Afghanistan, Egypt, Pakistan, the Palestinian territories and Syria, the coastguard said.
The tragedy has underscored the need for concrete measures to help deter migrants from attempting hazardous boat crossings from north Africa and other regions. The UN’s International Organization for Migration said countries must take “comprehensive action . . . to save lives at sea and reduce perilous journeys by expanding safe and regular pathways to migration”.
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said she was “very concerned by the number of missing people”, adding that “we must continue to work together, with member states and third countries, to prevent such tragedies”.
Greece, which has a caretaker administration ahead of legislative elections in June, declared three days of mourning, with politicians saying they would suspend campaigning.
The centre-right government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis was criticised by rights groups for taking a heavy-handed approach to migration, including turning away passengers from ports before they can apply for asylum.
Athens was informed by Italian authorities that the vessel was travelling close to the Greek mainland on Tuesday afternoon. An aircraft from Frontex, the EU’s border and coastguard agency, had detected the boat in the morning shortly before 10am.
After the alert from the Italian authorities, two container ships near the vessel immediately went to the scene, offering assistance and supplies. But the crew of the fishing vessel, which was about 25-30 metres long, denied offers of assistance, according to Greek authorities, who added that the crew said they wished to continue sailing to Italy, their intended destination.
“[On Tuesday] afternoon, a merchant vessel approached the ship and provided it with food and supplies, while they refused any further assistance,” said Nikos Alexiou, a spokesperson for the Greek coastguard. He added that a second merchant ship approached the vessel. Its crew’s offer of assistance was turned down.
A Greek coastguard vessel reported that the ship’s deck was “stacked with people”, said Alexiou, adding that it had remained in the area as a precaution. Survivors said the boat capsized after passengers moved abruptly to one side.
More than 100 of the survivors were transferred to hospitals and aid centres in Kalamata, a city on the Peloponnese peninsula. Authorities on Thursday moved the bodies of the dead to a morgue near Athens and took DNA samples to start the process of identifying the victims.
Read the full article here
