Photo credit: Arab News
Officials of the Greek coastguard were searching on Monday for 15 people who fell into the water from a migrant boat that was found drifting off the coast of Crete with 17 bodies on board.
Neos Kosmos reports that all the 17 fatalities were discovered on Saturday on the craft, which was taking on water and partially deflated, some 26 nautical miles southwest of the island.
Post-mortem examinations were being carried out to determine how they died. However, \greek public television suggested they may have suffered from hypothermia or dehydration.
A Greek coast guard spokeswoman told AFP that two survivors reported that “15 people fell in the water” after the motor cut out on Thursday, then the vessel drifted for two days.
The two survivors reported that the vessel had become unstable due to bad weather, and there was no means of getting shelter, food, or water.
The vessel had 34 people on board and had left the Libyan port of Tobruk on Wednesday, the Greek port authorities said. Most of those who died came from Sudan and Egypt.
Migrants have been trying to reach Crete from Libya since last year, as a way of entering the European Union. But the Mediterranean crossing is perilous.
Greece’s conservative government has toughened its migration policy, suspending asylum claims for three months, particularly for those coming to Crete from Libya.
