A day after Sinking of a fishing trawler off Greece many migrants are still considered missing. “Neither survivors nor other victims were discovered during the night,” said a spokesman for the Greek Coast Guard on state broadcaster ERT. According to survivors, up to 700 people could have been on board. The Greek authorities are now assuming that more than 500 people have died. The search and rescue operation off the Peloponnese peninsula is to be continued.
On Wednesday, ship crews from the Greek Coast Guard and Navy recovered the bodies of 78 people; in the meantime there had been talk of 79 bodies. In addition, 104 survivors were brought ashore. According to the authorities, 26 of them were treated in hospital, mainly for hypothermia. According to the Coast Guard, most of the surviving passengers came from Syria, Egypt or Pakistan. They are initially to be housed in a camp near the capital Athens.
The United Nations said it was “deeply shocked and saddened”. “We are witnessing one of the worst tragedies in the Mediterranean and the figures given by the authorities are devastating,” said Gianlucca Rocco, head of the UN migration organization IOM for Greece. A team from the refugee agency UNHCR is on its way to the Greek city of Kalamata to care for the survivors, it said.
Every life lost is a “tragedy,” said UNHCR representative in Greece, Maria Clara Martin. “Such deaths can be avoided by providing more safe routes for people fleeing conflict and persecution. No one should have to make such life-threatening journeys while fleeing for their lives.”
After a long dispute, the EU member states agreed last week that in the future Fast-track migrants to the EU’s external borders.
The cutter capsized and sank – possibly with many people below deck
According to the coast guard, an observation aircraft from the EU border protection agency Frontex had already discovered the 25 to 30 meter long boat on Tuesday afternoon. The migrants apparently wanted to leave Libyan Tobruk nach Italy translate, according to the Coast Guard, they refused “any help”. The engine failed around 11 p.m. on Tuesday evening, after which the boat capsized and sank at a deep point within ten to 15 minutes. It is to be feared that many migrants also stayed tightly packed below deck and were trapped there.
Since 2014, the United Nations counted around 27,000 migrants who made the crossing in the Mediterranean Sea died. Of these, around 2,300 are in the disaster region in the eastern Mediterranean.
ehl/djo (dpa, afp, epd)