At least 78 people have died and many more are missing off the coast of southern Greece, after yet another migrant shipwreck. Greek authorities said Wednesday 104 people had been rescued so far from the boat which sank overnight off the southern coast.
A fishing boat carrying well over a hundred migrants capsized and sank in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, Greek authorities said June 14.
Following the shipwreck, which happened about 90 kilometers southwest of the southern town of Pylos, a large search and rescue operation was launched.
104 people have been rescued so far, the Greek coast guard said in a press release Wednesday morning.
Three coast guard vessels, a navy frigate and a navy helicopter were taking part in the search for others believed to be missing. In addition, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of EU border agency Frontex, presumably a drone, is "operating at the scene", the press release said. Moreover, seven private vessels were taking part in the search.
Four of the survivors with symptoms of hypothermia were flown in an air force helicopter to Kalamáta, the second-biggest city of the Peloponnese peninsula located 20 kilometers east of Pylos, and were then taken to a local hospital by ambulance.
None of those rescued had life jackets or other life-saving equipment, the coast guard said.
Dozens of other rescued migrants received dry clothes and medical attention in sheltered areas in Kalamáta set up by the ambulance services and UN refugee agency UNHCR, AP reported. Some of the survivors reached Kalamáta on board a large yacht, according to AP.
According to distress hotline Alarm Phone, which said it received a distress call from the boat Tuesday afternoon, the vessel was carrying 750 people. United Nations migration agency IOM said initial reports suggested up to 400 people were on board, AP reported.
Also read: Death toll from shipwreck off Mykonos rises to nine
Migrants allegedly rejected offers of help
The rescue coordination center in Rome first informed the Greek coast guard about a fishing vessel, according to the press release published by the unit. However, Alarm Phone says it first informed Greek authorities shortly before 5 pm Tuesday evening. The migrant boat was then spotted by a Frontex aircraft and two merchant ships as it was heading north at high speed, according to the Greek coast guard.
According to the coast guard, the migrants repeatedly refused assistance during telephone calls with Greek authorities as well as from two Greek navy vessels and a coast guard vessel that had approached the migrants Tuesday afternoon.
They said they wanted to continue their voyage to Italy, according to the coast guard. However, the migrants reportedly agreed to accept food supplies from the first navy ship.
A few hours after the coast guard vessel arrived, it confirmed a "large number of migrants on the outer deck" of the migrant boat and so "remained close." The fishing boat "overturned and ultimately sank in the early hours" of Wednesday.
The Italy-bound boat is believed to have sailed from the Tobruk area in eastern Libya, news agency Reuters reported, citing Greek state broadcaster ERT. Most of the migrants were young men in their 20s, according to Reuters.
The rescues come just a few days after the Greek coast guard rescued 90 migrants stranded at sea off the island of Kythera and took them to Neapoli on the Peloponnese coast. On Sunday (June 11), 90 migrants on a US-flagged yacht were rescued after they alerted authorities, AP reported.
Bigger boats
According to AP, migrants are increasingly entering international waters in larger boats. One reason is so that migrant smugglers can avoid coast guard patrols in Greek waters, the agency said.
In the process, shipwrecks and other accidents happen often -- more than 1,000 people have died in the Central Mediterranean this year through June 9, according to IOM figures. The number of unreported cases is assumed to be higher. The figure for the Eastern Mediterranean currently stands at 48.
About 72,000 refugees and migrants have arrived so far this in the EU's Mediterranean countries Italy, Spain, Greece, Malta and Cyprus, according to UN data. The vast majority have landed in Italy.
Read more: UN: Libya must end arbitrary detention and mass expulsion of migrants
with AP