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At least 59 drown as refugee boat sinks off Greece At least 59 drown as refugee boat sinks off Greece
(32 minutes later)
More feared missing and 104 rescued from vessel that reportedly sailed from Libya and which coastguard says was heading for Italy Over 100 rescued and many more feared missing from vessel that reportedly sailed from Libya for Italy
At least 59 people have drowned and more are feared missing after a refugee boat capsized and sank off Greece. The death toll from the deadliest migrant shipwreck off Greece this year has risen, with officials saying at least 59 people have lost their lives with scores still missing.
By midday, 104 people were rescued, but it remained unclear how many were onboard when the vessel went under, authorities said. The shipwreck was the deadliest off Greece this year. The victims, nearly all of them men from Afghanistan and Pakistan, drowned when the boat they were travelling in capsized off the southern Peloponnese. The vessel, thought to have been carrying several hundred people, had set out from eastern Libya for Italy. It was unclear whether it was a fishing trawler or cargo ship.
The coastguard said the boat, which was on its way to Italy, was spotted in international waters late on Tuesday by an aircraft belonging to the EU border agency Frontex and two nearby vessels, about 50 miles (80km) south-west of the town of Pylos in southern Greece. “There has been a dramatic rise in the death count, which is climbing by the hour,” said one official. “Speculation is rife that as many as 600 people were onboard but that has not been confirmed. The ship is under the water. It has sunk.”
It said those onboard had refused assistance offered by Greek authorities late on Tuesday. A few hours later the boat capsized and sank, triggering a search and rescue operation. About 104 passengers had been rescued as of Wednesday afternoon, he said.
The state broadcaster ERT said it had sailed from the Libyan town of Tobruk, which lies south of the Greek island of Crete, with most onboard being young men in their 20s. Their nationalities, as well as where the boat had sailed from, were not immediately confirmed by Greek authorities. Greece’s public broadcaster, ERT, reported unprecedented scenes in Kalamata, the Peloponnesian town where the dead and injured were being taken.
Survivors were taken to the town of Kalamata, the authorities said. Coastguard vessels, a navy frigate, military transport planes, an air force helicopter and an array of private craft were participating in the search for survivors. Rescue efforts were initially hampered by strong winds.
Greece is one of the main routes into the EU for refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Most cross to Greek islands from nearby Turkey, but a growing number of boats also undertake a longer and more dangerous journey from Turkey to Italy via Greece. Greek authorities and officials from the EU border agency Frontex were alerted to the stricken ship late on Tuesday. A helicopter piloted by Frontex agents, who have intensified patrols in the frontline country, had first spotted the boat in international waters about 50 miles south-west of the town of Pylos in southern Greece.
About 72,000 refugees and migrants have arrived so far this year in Italy, Spain, Greece, Malta and Cyprus, according to UN data, with the majority landing in Italy. Smugglers are taking ever-greater risks to evade patrols. They are increasingly operating in international seaways with the aim of dropping off their human cargo in Italy rather than heavily guarded Greece.
“We are seeing growing numbers plying open seas that are more dangerous because they are prone to more stormy weather,” said Natassa Strachimi, a lawyer with Refugee Support Aegean, an NGO that provides legal aid to asylum seekers. “And the journeys are taking much longer because the destination is Italy.”
In a separate incident on Wednesday, a rescue operation was under way off the coast of Crete after a yacht carrying more than 80 migrants was towed to a port in the southern part of the island.
Greece has been criticised for forcibly expelling would-be asylum seekers in violation of international law. Its former centre-right government, which is facing re-election in polls later this month, has denied the “push-backs”, calling its migration policy “tough but fair”.
A video released last month showed refugees who had reached the island of Lesbos being forcibly placed on a Greek coastguard vessel before being set adrift and picked up by the Turkish coastguard.
UN data suggests that about 72,000 refugees and migrants have arrived in Italy, Spain, Greece, Malta and Cyprus, countries bordering the Mediterranean, so far this year. Greece has long been one of the main routes for people fleeing war, persecution and poverty in the Middle East Asia and Africa.