The Greek coast guard saved 42 people from a boat in trouble in the Mediterranean Sea near Crete. However, three people are still missing. The boat was carrying migrants.
Authorities were told by the Italian coast guard that a boat was in trouble 27 nautical miles (31 miles, 50 kilometers) south of Crete. The coast guard of Greece saved 40 people with ships and later two more people were rescued by a Greek navy helicopter.
The coast guard has been told by survivors that three people are still missing. Officials are searching for them. It was not known right away what type of boat the passengers were on or why the boat called for help.
Thursday’s rescue happened before a trial for nine Egyptian migrants in Greece. They are being accused of causing a shipwreck that killed people last year.
Greece is a common destination for people escaping war and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, trying to get into the European Union. Many people come to Greece from Turkey by crossing the eastern Aegean Sea islands. Some people also try to go from North Africa to Italy through the longer and more dangerous Mediterranean route, bypassing Greece.
The boats that are carrying too many things often have problems with the engine or get blown off course. This can make them end up near southern or western Greece.
In June 2023, a very full fishing boat that had left Libya sank in deep waters near the western coast of Greece, and around 500 people died. More than 100 people were saved, but less than 80 dead bodies were found.
Nine people from Egypt who survived a shipwreck will be on trial next week in a Greek city called Kalamata. They are accused of helping people enter the country illegally, being part of a criminal group, causing a deadly accident, and other crimes.
Their legal representatives from Greece said on Thursday that they were wrongly accused, and mentioned that an investigation into why the boat sank is still happening.
“For almost a year, nine people have been locked up in prison and they don’t know why,” said lawyer Dimitrios Choulis to reporters in Athens.
“They survived even though they couldn’t swim and didn’t have life jackets. They were facing certain death. Nine other survivors told the authorities about them,” Choulis said.
“It makes me very sad to visit and see people in prison who don’t know why they’re there. “
Tag: migrant boat
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42 people rescued as migrant boat off the coast of Greece signals for assistance
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86 rescued during by Spain coast guard during search for missing migrant boat
The Spanish coast guard has successfully rescued 86 individuals from a boat that went missing at sea over a week ago, in a search operation for migrants.
The vessel, carrying people from sub-Saharan Africa, was located approximately 70 nautical miles (130km) southwest of the Canary Islands. The rescue was made possible with the assistance of another nearby boat.
However, two similar boats carrying dozens more people remain missing, and there are limited details available about them.
According to Walking Borders, a migrant aid group, one of the boats was estimated to have approximately 65 people on board, while the other had up to 60.
These boats are believed to have departed from Senegal on June 23, four days prior to the larger vessel.
The larger vessel, which departed from Kafountine, Senegal on June 27, was estimated to be carrying 200 individuals, including many children, according to earlier reports from Walking Borders.
The coast guard vessel and the container ship that provided assistance are currently en route to Gran Canaria island. The exact number of individuals rescued from the larger vessel remains unclear, but the group includes 80 men and six women.
This news follows a recent tragic incident in which an overcrowded trawler sank off the Greek coast, resulting in one of the worst Mediterranean migrant shipwrecks. At least 78 deaths have been confirmed, with the United Nations reporting that up to 500 individuals may still be missing.
The journey from West Africa to the Canary Islands is known to be one of the most perilous routes for migrants. Typically, they undertake the voyage in traditional fishing boats that are vulnerable to the strong Atlantic currents.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at least 559 individuals lost their lives at sea while attempting to reach the Spanish islands last year. The death toll for 2021 rose to 1,126. However, due to limited information on departures from West Africa and underreported shipwrecks, the actual figures are likely higher.
Migrants embarking on this route often originate from countries such as Morocco, Mali, Senegal, Ivory Coast, and other sub-Saharan nations.
In 2022, Spain’s interior ministry recorded 15,682 unauthorized arrivals in the Canary Islands, representing a decrease of over 30% compared to the previous year.
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Illegal migrants: Eight children among 39 rescued from migrant boats, teenager among fatalities
39 people were saved from a migrant boat that started sinking in the English Channel on Wednesday, including eight children, a government source said.
The number differs from that provided by Kent County Council, which had earlier stated that 12 kids had been on the boat and taken into care.
Four people died in the incident, according to the council, and four more remain missing. A teenager was among the fatalities.
They were travelling in a crowded ship that began to sink in icy waters.
Crews on a nearby fishing boat and lifeboats helped with the rescue.
A search operation for the four people still missing is being carried out by drone.
“The reality is they are now looking for dead bodies rather than survivors,” the BBC’s Simon Jones has said.
In a joint statement, the UK and France pledged to “destroy” the business model of people-smuggling gangs.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman and her French counterpart Gérald Darmanin said the tragedy highlighted the need to jointly prevent the crossings.
“Our hearts go out to all those affected by this tragic event,” they said.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said some searches had taken place overnight with vessels in the area asked to post lookouts and report sightings to the Dover Coastguard.
Footage from Wednesday’s rescue showed the inflatable boat filling with water as some dressed only in T-shirts and thin lifejackets screamed for help.
The video – shared by the owner of the fishing trawler, Ben Squire – showed the crew of the fishing boat pulling people up out of the water and the boat with ropes.
Those rescued from the dinghy said they had each paid £5,000 to cross the channel, the BBC has been told.
IMAGE SOURCE,REUTERS Image caption, Rescue workers stand on board an RNLI lifeboat as a search and rescue operation is launched in the English Channel After hauling people to safety, Mr Squire said the crew gave them hot showers and their own clothes, and fed them to help warm them up.
Charles Blyth, the safety officer at the company which owns the trawler, said it was “sheer coincidence” it was in the right place for the rescue.
“As soon as the individuals on that dinghy saw [our] fishing vessel, many of them started to jump off and swim,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
He said crew members onboard had been trained in emergency care for people going overboard.
Lifeboat crews that arrived at the scene 10 minutes after the fishing trawler encountered a “horrific” and “distressing situation”, the RNLI’s head of lifeboats said on Thursday.
Simon Ling thanked the “invaluable” actions of the fishing vessel, saying crew members had saved “countless lives”.
Temperatures at the time had dropped below 1C and were likely to have been colder out at sea.
A French organisation, Utopia 56, which helps migrants in Calais, said it was contacted at 01:53 GMT – with a voice message and a location – by a boat in distress in the Channel.
Nikolai Posner from the organisation said the voice message stated there were people in the water and families on board.
“It was clearly an emergency, he was calling for help,” he told PA News, adding that they could hear “babies screaming” in the background.
The organisation, however, has said it was not possible to verify whether the distress call was definitely from the boat in question.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expressed his sorrow at the “tragic loss of human life”.
In November 2021, at least 27 migrants died after a dinghy sank while heading to the UK from France.
Some 460 people made the journey from France to Kent in small boats between Friday and Sunday, the BBC’s Simon Jones said.
Nearly 45,000 people have made the journey this year so far.
It’s not clear where the children that were rescued have been taken, but Kent County Council works with the Home Office and police in the safeguarding of vulnerable children.