Twenty migrants found dead on two boats off the coast of Crete

Twelve migrants were found dead on Monday, November 9, in their boat off the Greek island of Crete, the Greek coast guard announced. They had earlier reported eight other people dead in another boat. “Eighteen survivors were on the boat” on which the 12 dead were found, off the southern coast of Crete, said the coastguard press office.

Eight other people seeking asylum in the European Union were found dead in the same area in a search and rescue operation that began on Saturday. It was complicated by very difficult weather conditions, according to these same port authorities.

Nearly 60 people missing since Wednesday

Twenty-eight people, of Sudanese nationality, were rescued and a first body found on this boat, the coast guard announced on Sunday, but the operation to tow the boat "proved to be absolutely impossible and extremely dangerous due to (...) the violent winds", according to the same source. 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.