Migrants on board a boat during a rescue operation, undated photo by the Greek Coast Guard. HELLENIC COAST GUARD / Portal
DECRYPTION – 78 bodies were found, but a total of more than 500 dead is to be expected. A tragedy reminiscent of the death of 800 migrants in 2015, the deadliest shipwreck to date.
The sinking of a fishing boat off Greece with 600 to 700 migrants on board will undoubtedly be among the worst in the long list of deadly migrant crossings in the Mediterranean. This Friday, the provisional number of dead is still 79, but in the end “hundreds” of “additional” victims must be feared, the International Organization for Migration announced on Thursday.
Only 104 people have been rescued so far and “hope of finding survivors is fading by the minute,” Stella Nanou, spokeswoman for the High Commissioner for Defence, told AFP on Friday. UN for Refugees (UNHCR) in Greece stating that “research must go on”. Ultimately, therefore, the death toll could be over 500 or even 600.
The passengers, mostly from Egypt, Syria and Pakistan, left Tobruk in eastern Libya on June 9. The Agency Coast Guard…
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