KALAMATA: At least 79 migrants drowned early on Wednesday and hundreds more were missing and feared dead after their overloaded boat capsized and sank in open seas off Greece, in one of Europe's deadliest shipping disasters in recent years.
As a painstaking search for survivors continued, a European rescue-support charity said it believed around 750 people were on board the 20- to 30-metre-long (65- to 100-foot-long) vessel. The U.N.'s migration agency estimated up to 400 while Greece declined to speculate on the passenger count.
By midday, 104 people had been rescued. A media report said the boat left from Libya, and a shipping ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity said most of those on board were from Egypt, Syria and Pakistan.
Search and rescue operations were to continue through the night, with military aircraft deploying flares to light up the Mediterranean waters around the wreck site about 50 miles (80 km) southwest of the southern Greek coastal town of Pylos.
Survivors were taken to the Greek port of Kalamata near Pylos. Covered in blankets, they rested on mattresses at a warehouse shelter, and the migration ministry was expected to move them to a camp outside Athens.
The shipwreck was the deadliest off Greece in several years. In February, 96 people died when their wooden boat smashed into rocks on Italy's Calabrian coast during a storm.
Greece's caretaker administration, in power between an inconclusive election on May 21 and new elections on June 25, declared three days of national mourning.
MIGRANTS CROWDED ON THE DECKS
Greek state broadcaster ERT said the boat was en route to Italy from the Libyan town of Tobruk, which lies south of the Greek island of Crete. Greek authorities did not confirm the vessel's departure port.
Alarm Phone, which operates a trans-European network supporting rescue operations, said it received alerts from people on board a ship in distress off Greece late on Tuesday, with erratic contact after that.
"According to the people, there were 750 people on board... We now hear reports of a shipwreck and fear they are true," it said on Twitter.
Greek coast guard spokesperson Nikos Alexiou, speaking to Greece's MEGA TV, said authorities did not know how many were on the boat, especially below deck, but reported it was crowded. "...There were too many people on the outer deck. It was full," he said.
The Greek coast guard said EU border agency Frontex first spotted the boat on Tuesday in international waters southwest of Pylos, and Italian authorities then alerted Greece to the vessel's presence.
Alarm Phone said it informed Greek authorities, Frontex and the Greek division of the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR late on Tuesday afternoon.
The charity said that shortly afterwards, it spoke to people on the vessel who said the captain had fled on a small boat and appealed for help.
The Greek coast guard reported its agents approached the vessel and offered help. But migrants packed on its outer deck "refused assistance and stated their desire to continue their voyage", according to the coast guard.
In aerial images released by the coast guard, dozens of people on the boat's upper and lower decks were looking up with outstretched arms.
A few hours later, the vessel began veering from side to side before capsizing around 2 a.m. on Wednesday then sinking, a government official said.
LIBYAN SMUGGLING NETWORKS
Greece is one of the main routes into the European Union for refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
But since the previous conservative government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis introduced tougher controls at the country's migrant camps, more people have chosen to make a longer, riskier sea journey from Turkey to Italy via Greece.
The Greek migration ministry blamed international smuggling networks for putting migrants' lives at risk, while Filippo Grandi, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, called on governments to work together on creating safe pathways for people fleeing poverty and war.
Libya, which has had little stability or security since a NATO-backed uprising in 2011, is a major launching point for people seeking to reach Europe by sea. People-smuggling networks are mainly run by military factions that control coastal areas.
In recent days, security forces in Libya have cracked down on migrants with detentions and deportations. It was not clear whether the ship that sank on Wednesday departed Libya before or after the crackdowns.
Greece was at the front line of Europe's migration crisis of 2015-16, when nearly 1 million people arrived on its islands from Turkey before heading north to wealthier European states.
Numbers have fallen dramatically since a 2016 EU-Turkey deal to stem the flows.
About 72,000 refugees and migrants have arrived so far this year in Europe's front-line Mediterranean countries, according to United Nations data, with the majority landing in Italy and around 6,500 in Greece.
Nearly 1,000 people are estimated to have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean this year, according to the U.N.
Reuters
Thu Jun 15 2023
Migrants arrive at the port of Kalamata, following a rescue operation, after their boat capsized at open sea, in Kalamata, Greece, June 14, 2023. - Eurokinissi via REUTERS
Chegubard didakwa di Mahkamah Sesyen KL esok - Peguam
Badrul Hisham Shaharin atau dikenali Chegubard akan didakwa di Mahkamah Sesyen Kuala Lumpur esok atas pertuduhan memfitnah dan menghasut.
Pulau Pinang, kerajaan pusat bekerjasama tarik pelaburan semikonduktor
Kerajaan Pulau Pinang akan bekerjasama dengan Kerajaan Persekutuan untuk meneruskan usaha menarik pelaburan dalam sektor semikonduktor, termasuk segmen reka bentuk litar bersepadu (IC) di negeri itu.
Rakyat Malaysia di Jordan jadi duta produk PMKS negara
Menteri Pembangunan Usahawan dan Koperasi Datuk Ewon Benedick menyarankan rakyat Malaysia yang menetap di Jordan supaya memainkan peranan sebagai “duta” untuk mempromosikan produk perusahaan mikro kecil dan sederhana (PMKS) SERTA koperasi negara.
Mohamed Khaled tiba di Indonesia, dijadual bertemu Prabowo
Menteri Pertahanan Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin tiba di Jakarta hari ini untuk lawatan kerja rasmi sulung beliau ke Indonesia sejak memegang jawatan itu.
SPRM mohon maklumat dari Jerman
Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) memohon maklumat terkini daripada pihak berkuasa Jerman mengenai dana bon 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) yang dipercayai digunakan untuk membeli kereta mewah di negara itu pada 26 Okt 2022.
SPRM siasat pemimpin kanan di utara tanah air
Seorang pemimpin kanan di utara tanah air disiasat Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) kerana disyaki melantik beberapa syarikat yang mempunyai kepentingan dengannya membabitkan beberapa projek pembekalan melibatkan peruntukan kira-kira RM300,000.
Kembangkan kandungan tempatan melalui AI
Menurut Setiausaha Agung Organisasi Kerjasama Digital (DCO) Deemah Al Yahya, terdapat 2.7 peratus daripada penduduk dunia tidak berhubung malah tidak mempunyai sambungan asas internet. Beliau turut berkata infrastruktur pengkomputeran setiap negara perlu mempunyai kemampuan untuk mengembangkan kandungan tempatan khususnya yang melibatkan penggunaan AI.
AI tidak dapat ganti guru
Menteri Pendidikan Rwanda, Gaspard Twagirayezu berkata kepesatan teknologi AI dalam pendidikan tidak dapat menggantikan guru malah membantu guru dalam menyediakan bahan pengajaran yang bermanfaat kepada pelajar.
Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut adalah berita yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Ahad, 28 April 2024.
Mesyuarat Khas WEF: Dunia perlukan persaingan sihat dalam transisi ke Orde Baharu - Menteri Luar Arab Saudi
Menteri Luar Negeri Arab Saudi, Putera Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud berkata dunia memerlukan persaingan sihat dalam transisi daripada Orde Dunia Lama kepada Orde Baharu. Jelasnya, persaingan ini akan memberi manfaat dalam bentuk kos pengeluaran lebih rendah, perkembangan inovasi dan pelaburan lebih baik. #MesyuaratKhasWEF #WEF
Pertunjukan fesyen di Muzium British cetus kemarahan menteri Greece
Menteri Kebudayaan dan Sukan Greece, Lina Mendoni pada Ahad mendakwa pertunjukan fesyen di hadapan arca Parthenon di Muzium British merupakan penghinaan kepada karya-karya agung Phidias.
Kelayakan Euro 2024: Greece calar rekod bersih Perancis
Perancis yang hanya bolos satu gol dalam tujuh perlawanan pertama dalam aksi kelayakan, tamat di kedudukan teratas Kumpulan B.
Kelayakan Euro 2024: Greece tutup peluang Ireland layak secara automatik
Georgios Giakoumakis dan Georgios Masouras menjaringkan gol dalam separuh masa pertama untuk menutup peluang Ireland.
Kebakaran hutan terus merebak di Greece
Greece masih diancam kebakaran hutan yang kini sudah mula merebak ke beberapa pinggir bandar di utara Athens, lapor media tempatan pada Selasa.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
3 maut kebakaran hutan di Greece
Seorang wanita ditemukan meninggal dunia dalam sebuah treler berhampiran Volos, manakala suaminya cedera parah.
Mbappe catat rekod baharu dalam kemenangan Perancis ke atas Greece
Kylian Mbappe mencipta satu lagi rekod ketika Perancis mengekalkan rekod kemenangan mereka dalam aksi Kumpulan B, kelayakan Kejohanan Eropah dengan kemenangan 1-0 ke atas Greece.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah antara yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Greece umum tiga hari berkabung susulan insiden kapal karam
Greece akan berkabung selama tiga hari bagi mengenang mangsa yang terkorban dalam insiden kapal karam di perairan antarabangsa dekat bandar Pylos,
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah antara yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.