Migrant boat sinks off the coast of Greece, at least 78 dead
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Kalamata: A fishing boat overloaded with migrants capsized and sank in the Ionian Sea off the coast of Greece on Thursday. Rescuers scoured the sea for survivors and discovered at least 78 people were dead.
104 people have been saved so far. Around 30 of them have pneumonia, dehydration, and exhaustion. They are not in immediate danger. Survivors are being cared for at the port of Kalamata. "It's really horrific. The survivors were in a very bad psychological situation. Many are under shock, they are so overwhelmed. Many of them worry about the people they travelled with, families or friends," said UN refugee agency staffer Erasmia Roumana.
Government spokesman Ilias Siakantaris said there were up to 750 people on the boat.
"We are witnessing one of the biggest tragedies in the Mediterranean and the numbers announced by the authorities are devastating," said the UN International Organization for Migration. Authorities think the final death toll could run into the hundreds.
Nine suspected people smugglers have been arrested. One of them is the captain of the boat. They were detained at the port of Kalamata, reported AFP.
Photographs handed out by the coast guard showed a rusty blue boat full of people crammed on deck. "The fishing boat was 25-30 metres long. Its deck was full of people, and we assume the interior was just as full," said a coast guard spokesman.
A local rescuer told Proto Programma radio: "We've never seen anything like this before. It was like an abandoned ship... we saw no lifesavers or life jackets either on (the migrants) or the boat."
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said the disaster was entirely preventable. "What happened is the consequence of the absence of safe and legal pathways to come to Europe," said Juan Matias Gil. Thousands of people took to the streets to protest the circumstances pushing migrants to resort to illegal and dangerous routes. They carried signs reading "the government and the European Union kill" and "No to fortress Europe, solidarity with refugees".
