Greece continues the search for possible survivors on Thursday, the day after the massive capsizing of a fishing boat overloaded with migrants that could have caused hundreds of victims. So far the Greek coast guard has found 78 bodies off the Peloponnese peninsula in southwestern Greece, it announced today, correcting the number of deaths confirmed yesterday, which was 79.
Emergency teams have so far rescued 104 passengers. What is worrying now, however, are the hundreds of people who are still missing, possibly more than 550, according to unconfirmed reports cited by government spokesman Ilias Siakantaris on Wednesday that there were 750 people on board the ship.
Authorities fear that many have been trapped below decks, a fact that, if confirmed, would spell one of the worst tragedies ever recorded in the central Mediterranean. This was stated by Stella Nanou, from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): "It could be the worst maritime tragedy in Greece in recent years," she said.
The rescued castaways are all men, and among them are eight minors, according to the Coast Guard spokeswoman. This raises fears that there are women and children among the missing. The survivors are mostly Syrians and Egyptians, but there are also 12 Pakistanis and two Palestinians.
“The survivors are in a very difficult situation. Right now they are in a state of shock,” Erasmia Roumana, the head of a United Nations Refugee Agency delegation, told The Associated Press after meeting rescued migrants in the southern port of Kalamata.
According to the Greek broadcaster ERT, the smugglers may have locked several migrants in the hold. A survivor also assured doctors at the Kalamata Hospital that he had seen about 100 children in the ship's hold, according to the same television network.
"The fishing boat was between 25 and 30 meters long. Its deck was full of people, and we assumed that the interior was just as full," said coast guard spokesman Nikolaos Alexiou.
According to the Greek port authorities, a surveillance plane from the European agency Frontex, dedicated to the control of the Union's borders, had sighted the ship on Tuesday afternoon. But, they say, the passengers "refused any help." And they added that none of them were wearing life jackets.
A Supreme Court prosecutor has already ordered an investigation into the circumstances of the deaths.
Greece has declared three days of mourning in honor of the victims, and several politicians have suspended the electoral campaign for the general elections on June 25.
For her part, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, was "deeply saddened" by the tragedy and promised to strengthen cooperation between the European Union and neighboring countries to take severe measures against immigrant smugglers.
But human rights groups argue that these measures can result in migrants and refugees being forced to take longer and more dangerous routes to reach safe countries.
