The search for other survivors of the serious boat accident off the coast of Greece continued unsuccessfully on Thursday evening. “No survivors or other victims have been found,” said a spokesman for the Greek Coast Guard. According to statements by the rescued, more than 700 people were said to have been on board the sunken fishing boat. Whether they will ever be found is the question.
Most migrants were unable to get off the 100-foot-long and rusty boat in time on Wednesday morning when it capsized and sank about 50 nautical miles (about 92 kilometers) off Greece’s southwest coast. Many children would have been among those on board.
Ships from the Greek coastguard and navy have so far brought the bodies of 79 people to the southern Greek port of Kalamata. The 104 survivors were housed in tents. Authorities said 26 of them required hospital treatment, mainly for hypothermia.
Only men rescued, women and children probably drowned
Greek media reported that the 104 people rescued were all men. According to survivors, the other passengers, including pregnant women and many children, remained below deck and had no chance of escaping to the outside as the boat quickly sank.
The accident site is near the deepest point of the Mediterranean Sea, the so-called Calypso layer, which extends about five kilometers to the seabed. Salvage of the wreck should be next to impossible.
Help refused – panic on board?
According to the rescued, the boat had departed from the Libyan city of Tobruk. The passengers included people from Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Egypt. The Italian authorities had already informed their Greek neighbors on Tuesday about a fully occupied fishing boat in the Greek search and rescue area. The Coast Guard and passing cargo ships offered help to the passengers several times by radio. However, they refused, said a spokesman for the Greek Coast Guard. Instead, they would have indicated that they wanted to go to Italy.
The authorities suspect panic on board as the cause of the accident. It is said that the weather was not the reason the boat capsized, as it was relatively calm.
Source: Krone
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