While some 100 other migrants were rescued, the Greek coastguard reported that 17 migrants perished early on Wednesday when their boat capsized and drowned off the coast of the Peloponnese.
According to the coastguard, the incident took place in Ionian Sea international seas and led to a significant rescue effort that was hampered by severe winds.
An army plane, a chopper, six additional nearby boats, and naval ships were all involved in the operation.
“Since very early Wednesday, an extensive rescue operation is underway off Pylos, after a fishing boat capsized with a large number of migrants onboard,” the coastguard said.
Four people in critical condition were flown by helicopter to the port’s hospital while the rest of the survivors were being transported to Kalamata.
The boat was discovered Tuesday afternoon, according to the coast guard, by a surveillance plane of the Frontex agency of Europe, but the passengers “refused any help.”
It later claimed that nobody on board was wearing a life jacket, although it withheld the nationalities of those who were.
The migrants appeared to have left Libya and were traveling toward Italy, according to the authorities.
Also on Wednesday, Greece’s port police reported that a coastguard patrol saved and hauled to port an 80-person sailboat transporting migrants off the coast of Crete.
The primary entry sites for the tens of thousands of individuals trying to get to Europe from Africa and the Middle East have historically been Greece, Italy, and Spain.
Turkey is making more attempts to enter Greece via southern routes around the Cyclades islands and in the direction of the Peloponnese peninsula in an effort to evade patrols in the northern Aegean Sea.
Rescue operations are regular, but this month the Greek government came under pressure from abroad over video footage that allegedly showed migrants being forcibly expelled after being left at sea.
Greece and other EU members on the southern and southeastern edges of the union claim that they are unfairly saddled with managing migrant arrivals who are not in possession of legal status.
AFP
