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Two people found alive among 17 bodies in a partially sunken migrant boat south of the island crete Greek authorities were told over the weekend that the ship was carrying a total of 34 people, and 15 had gone overboard and were missing, Greece’s coast guard said on Monday.
The coast guard said search and rescue operations were continuing, but high winds and rough seas were hampering efforts.
On Saturday, the Coast Guard reported the passing of a Türkiye The merchant vessel came across a half-submerged migrant boat 36 nautical miles (41 mi, 66 kilometres) south-west of the city of Ierapetra in southern Crete. Seventeen passengers on board, all men, were already dead, and only two survived, the Coast Guard said, revising its initial count of 18 bodies.
survivors from both egyptThey were taken to a hospital on Crete and the bodies were taken to a morgue on the island for autopsies, the coast guard said.
Survivors later told authorities that the ship, carrying a total of 34 people from Egypt, South Sudan and Sudan, had departed from Tobruk. Libya On the night of 1 December. The next day the boat’s engine broke down and it started drifting. Officials reported that fifteen of the people on board the ship fell overboard and were missing.
Separately, the coast guard said the body of a boy was found along with 37 survivors from Syria and Afghanistan who were taken to the eastern Aegean island of Samos aboard a migrant smuggling speedboat on Monday. The speedboat was later found stranded in a nearby bay, while the smuggler escaped capture, the coast guard said.
Greece is a major entry point into the EU for people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Fatal accidents are a common occurrence. The preferred route was a short but often dangerous crossing from the Turkish coast to the nearby Greek islands. But increased patrolling and allegations of pushback by Greek authorities – including summary deportations without allowing asylum applications – reduced attempts to cross.
Instead, many migrants are making the long sea journey from North Africa, particularly Libya, crossing the Mediterranean Sea using roughly constructed wooden boats, large inflatable boats or old dilapidated fishing boats.