At least 18 migrants died after shipwreck off the Greek coast

First modification: 07/10/2022 – 02:15

At least 18 migrants died after the sinking of the barge in which they traveled from Turkey to the Greek coast and it is estimated that dozens remain missing.

The accident occurred off the Greek island of Lesvos in the early hours of Thursday. This was reported by the Coast Guard, which also explained that the boat was transporting some 40 people, according to what was reported by other irregular migrants who were rescued.

Amid search and rescue operations, 18 bodies were recovered from the sea, including a boy and a man, and another 25 people were rescued. Despite the hours passing, the search for survivors continued amid difficult weather conditions.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called on Europe to “work together in a much more meaningful way” to prevent such accidents and “completely neutralize traffickers who are exploiting innocent, desperate people trying to reach the continent. European on barges that are clearly not safe.

This is the second shipwreck of a barge with migrants in less than 24 hours

Previously, on Wednesday, October 5, the Greek authorities rescued 80 migrants, including 18 minors, when the boat they were traveling in capsized near the island of Cythera, in southern Greece.

On the night of Wednesday, October 5, a barge carrying around a hundred migrants collided with some rocks, causing it to sink.

80 people have been rescued by the authorities, many of them had to climb rocks with ropes thrown by the Coast Guard. Of those rescued, 18 are minors, seven are women and 55 are men.

Greek Maritime Affairs and Insular Policy Minister Ioannis Plakiotakis pointed to Turkey’s inaction to prevent human traffickers from exploiting migrants and called for respecting the agreement reached in 2016 with the European Union to curb migratory flows.

“As long as the Turkish Coast Guard does not prevent their actions, traffickers will herd unfortunate people, without security measures, into boats that cannot withstand the weather conditions,” he said.

In turn, the Greek Migration Minister, Notis Mitarakis, urged Turkey to act “immediately to prevent all irregular departures in the face of difficult weather conditions.” Similarly, he called on the European Union to take a role in the situation.

Greece was the main recipient of migrants during the crisis of 2015 and 2016, when around a million people fleeing from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan arrived in the country, mainly through Turkey.

With Reuters and EFE