Boat full of migrants capsized in Greek island, Turkish ship spotted, bodies of 17 people inside

Migrant Boat Sinks in Crete: Once again a painful and shocking case has come to light from the Greek island of Crete. A boat carrying migrants capsized near the island of Crete on Saturday. At least 17 people died in this accident. Apart from this, two people on the boat were left alive and have been taken to the hospital for treatment. Giving information related to this, Greek state broadcaster ERT said that the bodies of all the migrants were found inside the boat.

Speaking about this accident, Mayor of Cretan Port Ierapetra, Manolis Frangoulis, also said that all the people on board the boat were young. Along with this, he has informed that the air of the boat had gone out from two sides, due to which the passengers had to stay in a confined space. According to the report of ERT, the coroner is investigating whether the cause of death of these people was due to dehydration or something else. Greek officials said the boat was found 26 nautical miles or 48 kilometers south-west of Crete.

According to Greek news agency Ana, a Turkish cargo ship saw the drifting boat and informed the authorities. Two coast guard ships and a ship from the European border coast guard agency Frontex, a Frontex aircraft and a Super Puma helicopter went to the area to investigate the matter. The coast guard said survivors reported that the boat had become unstable due to bad weather and that they had no shelter, food or water. Even before this, such incidents have happened in Greece. Recently, three people died when a migrant boat capsized near the Greek island of Gavdos. However, 56 people were saved in this incident.

The Greek Coast Guard said that a large-scale relief and rescue operation is being conducted amid bad weather on Tuesday, so that the missing people can be searched. Xinhua quoted state broadcaster ERT as saying that it was not clear from the survivors how many people were on board the boat. Frontex assisted Greek authorities in the investigation of the incident. Gavdos is located in the south of the island of Crete and is a route often used by migrants trying to reach Europe from North Africa.

Since 2015, Greece has been a major route for migrants and refugees entering the EU. More than 1 million people crossed its borders, mainly from Türkiye. In the last few years, hundreds of people have lost their lives by drowning in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to reach Europe. Human rights organizations have repeatedly appealed to strengthen maritime defenses and create safe migration routes. A day before this accident, another migrant boat sank near the island of Lesvos in Greece, in which 4 people died and 7 people were rescued. It is not yet clear how many people were on board the boat, because all the survivors are citizens of Sudan and they do not speak English, due to which there is difficulty in communication.