At least 78 migrants died when a fishing boat capsized near the Greek coast

At least 78 migrants lost their lives this Wednesday after a fishing boat sank with hundreds of people on board in the ionian seaoff the Greek coast, a spokeswoman for the Greek Coast Guard confirmed for Efe, who warned that “the number of deaths will probably increase further”.

By now they could be saved with life 106 peoplefourteen of whom were transferred to a hospital in the city of Kalamata, some 250 kilometers southwest of Athens.

According to local media, there were at least 400 immigrants on the 30-meter-long ship, of unknown nationality, so it is feared that hundreds of people could remain missing.

Greek President Ekaterini Sakellaropoulou went to Kalamata to find out what happened.

Ten boats, a naval frigate, a helicopter and an unmanned aerial vehicle Frontex – the border agency of the European Union (EU) – are participating in the search and rescue operations.

Most of the 106 rescued are adult men.

The boat set sail with destination to Italy from eastern Libya and capsized after it overturned southwest of the Peloponnese peninsula this morning, authorities said.

In a statement, the Greek Coast Guard reported that the fishing vessel was located around noon on Tuesday while sailing in international waters south of the Greek peninsula.

In the afternoon, a Coast Guard vessel approached to offer assistance, noticing a large number of people on the outer deck of the vessel, but those on board declined the offer of assistance, expressing their desire to continue their trip to Italy, the note explains.

A few hours after the incident, the Coast Guard made a rescue south of the river The island of Crete to another 80 people They were on a floating sailboat.

People-smuggling networks have for years used large vessels such as sailboats and fishing boats to make their way from Turkey or Libya to the southern Italian mainland, from where migrants and refugees have easier access to central European countries.

The weeks of the Greek government have passed rescued 90 migrants in the southern Peloponnese that they were on a yacht that was floating.