At least 79 people have died and many more are feared missing after a fishing boat carrying refugees and migrants capsized and sank off the southern coast of Greece, one of the worst such disasters this year. It was unclear how many passengers were missing from the vessel, which had set out from eastern Libya and was heading for Italy. The majority of the victims were men from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Prompted by this heart breaking incident, Greece’s caretaker government has declared a period of three days of national mourning to honour the lives lost. “There has been a dramatic rise in the death count, which is climbing by the hour. Speculation is rife that as many as 600 people were onboard, but that has not been confirmed. The ship is under water. It has sunk. About 104 passengers had been rescued as of Wednesday afternoon”, said one Greek official.
Ioannis Zafiropoulos, the deputy mayor of the southern port city of Kalamata, where survivors were taken, said his information indicated there were more than 500 people onboard. Coastguard vessels, a navy frigate, military transport planes, an air force helicopter, and an array of private craft were participating in the search for survivors. Rescue efforts were initially hampered by strong winds.
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