Refugee boat sinks off Greece, atleast 79 dead
A fishing boat carrying migrants capsized off the coast of Greece late Tuesday, killing at least 79 people and leaving many others missing. The officers provided this information. He told that all these migrants were trying to go to Europe. Coast Guard, Navy and aircraft launched a massive search and rescue operation throughout the night. It is not yet clear how many passengers are missing.
More than 500 people were aboard
Coast Guard spokesman Nikos Alexios told state-run ERT TV that it was impossible to estimate the exact number of passengers. It appears that the 80-100 ft vessel capsized after people suddenly moved to one side and sank after some time.
According to a statement by the Coast Guard, when their ships and commercial vessels made repeated attempts to rescue the boat, they were prevented from doing so. The people on the boat kept saying that they wanted to go to Italy.
Coast Guard officials said the boat started sinking after its engine broke down at around 1:40 am on Tuesday. According to the statement, the boat sank after 10 to 15 minutes. Officials said the boat sank in international waters about 75 km southwest of Greece’s southern Peloponnese peninsula. 104 people on board have been rescued. Twenty-five of the rescued people were admitted to the hospital with complaints of ‘hypothermia’ or fever.
