Greece: eight dead in the sinking of a migrant boat off the coast of Crete

Eight migrants died off the coast of the Greek island of Crete when their boat sank, the Greek coast guard announced on Monday. Twenty-eight other people, of Sudanese nationality, were rescued in connection with the same shipwreck, port authorities announced on Sunday, as weather conditions made search operations extremely difficult.

The search and rescue operation began on Saturday six nautical miles off the southern coast of Crete, according to the coast guard. It made it possible to find 28 people as well as the body of another passenger. During the night from Sunday to Monday, “a coastguard rescue ship found the boat 10 nautical miles” south of Crete. “Seven bodies were still on board,” they said.

The second accident off the coast of Crete in three days

According to survivors cited by the Greek authorities, these people seeking asylum in the European Union had left Libya on November 3 or 4. Two Sudanese aged 28 and 16 were arrested after being recognized by other migrants as the suspected smugglers, according to the same source. This is the second accident off the coast of Crete in three days.

On Wednesday, Greek port police tried to find 59 migrants, missing after a shipwreck off the coast of Crete, according to the statements of a survivor, a 23-year-old Bangladeshi. The searches yielded no results, according to the Coast Guard. Crete is one of the main entry points into the European Union for migrants, including many Sudanese who left Libya and are attempting the perilous crossing to Greece.