At least 79 dead, more than 100 rescued near Greece after boat carrying migrants capsizes
At least 79 people are dead and more than 100 have been rescued after a fishing boat with migrants aboard capsized near the coast of Greece on Wednesday.
The boat capsized overnight 45 miles southwest of Pylos, Greece, in the country's southern Peloponnese peninsula, the Greek coast guard said Wednesday. Members of Greece's coast guard, navy and air force have been searching the waters with a helicopter, lifeboat, navy frigate and two patrol boats.
Authorities said Wednesday that 79 bodies had been recovered and 104 people had been rescued. Survivors have been transferred to the Peloponnese city of Kalamata by ship, where they were met by the United Nations Refugee Agency, which provided medical attention and dry clothes. Four people were taken to the General Hospital of Kalamata by helicopter with hypothermia symptoms.
None of the survivors were wearing life jackets, authorities said. The number of people who are missing or may still be in the sea had not been released.
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Capsized boat believed to have originated in Libya
Greek authorities and the European Union border protection agency Frontex were first alerted about the boat, which was heading for Italy, during the day Tuesday. The boat is believed to be from eastern Libya, which has faced human trafficking and emigration problems since an uprising killed autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.
After the first alert, a Frontex aircraft and two merchant ships spotted the boat sailing north, according to the Greek coast guard. A coast guard patrol boat headed for the area while a coast guard helicopter monitored the vessel.
The coast guard said it tried repeatedly to call the ship and offer help, but all requests were declined.
“In the afternoon a merchant vessel approached the ship and provided it with food and supplies, while the (passengers) refused any further assistance,” it said.
After supplying the ship with food, a second merchant ship approached the fishing boat with more supplies and assistance, which was declined. Tuesday evening, a Greece coast guard patrol boat approached the ship and saw a "large number of migrants on the deck" who declined help and expressed that they wanted to continue their voyage.
The coast guard patrol boat moved alongside the ship before it ultimately capsized early Wednesday.
Alarm Phone, a help line designed for people who are sailing across the Mediterranean Sea, said in a tweet that it received reports of a ship in distress Wednesday near the same area where the migrant ship went down.
Yesterday, we were alerted by a boat in distress in the Greek SAR zone. It had left from #Libya. According to the people, there were 750 people on board. Authorities were alerted. Contact was lost shortly after midnight. We now hear reports of a shipwreck and fear they are true. pic.twitter.com/NTyhmTIHQD
— Alarm Phone (@alarm_phone) June 14, 2023
The U.N.'s International Organization for Migration tweeted Wednesday that the capsizing was a "tragedy in the Aegean" and that some reports said 400 people were on board.
‼️ Another tragedy in the Aegean that reinforces the urgency for concrete, comprehensive action from States to save lives at sea and reduce perilous journeys by expanding safe and regular pathways to migration.
— IOM - UN Migration 🇺🇳 (@UNmigration) June 14, 2023
Contributing: Nicholas Paphitis, Sam Magdy and Renata Brito, The Associated Press
More on U.S. capsizing events: US Coast Guard rescues 4 people in one week after boats capsize near Oregon
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Migrant boat capsizes near Greece, killing 79, injuring over 100
