The possibility of finding survivors of the shipwreck this Wednesday in the Ionian Sea of a fishing boat with hundreds of migrants on board is decreasing, the Greek authorities announced today, while the number of confirmed deaths remains at 79.
“Things are difficult. As time passes the chances decrease.“, a spokeswoman for the Greek Coast Guard told EFE. Nine ships, including a Greek Navy frigate, and a helicopter continue search operations in the area.
It is feared that hundreds of people who were in the cellars fishing, mostly Women and childrenthey sank with the ship, in one of the deepest maritime areas of the Mediterranean.
Migrants rescued in Greece.
The search and rescue operations continued all night without yielding any results, so the official balance remains 79 dead and 104 rescued alive, all males of legal age, from Pakistan, Egypt, Syria and Palestine.
According to some local media, between 500 and 700 immigrants They traveled aboard the boat 30 meters in lengthso it is feared that hundreds of people are still missing.
[Grecia rescata a 92 migrantes desnudos y heridos: acusa a Turquía de “trato humillante”]
The boat had departed with destination to Italy from eastern Libya and capsized after capsizing early Wednesday southwest of the Peloponnese peninsula.
100 minors
According to testimonies from the survivors collected by the Greek media, inside the ship were about 100 minorsas well as many women, while most of the men traveled on the outer deck of the fishing boat.
According to the Coast Guard spokesman, Nikos Alexíu, on ERT public television, the engine of the overloaded ship stopped suddenly and then there was a transfer of people from one side to another, which caused it to overturn. “It is likely that we will never know exactly how many people were on board of the boat,” he said.
Rescued from the shipwreck.
In a statement, the Greek Coast Guard reported that the ship had been located around noon on Tuesdaywhen it was sailing in international waters south of the Greek peninsula.
According to that note, the authorities repeatedly offered to assist the fishing boat via satellite phone and private boats that were sent to the area, but those on board they refused the offer of helpexpressing his desire to continue the trip to Italy.
Yesterday, Wednesday, three men who were among those rescued were questioned at the Kalamata port headquarters on suspicion of being the alleged human traffickers.
