Hundreds of migrants may be dead as a result of the sinking of a fishing vessel earlier this week off the coast of southern Greece near Pylos. So far, at least 79 migrants have been confirmed dead as of Friday, though some reports have claimed the number may be higher.
Greek authorities managed to rescue 104 survivors of the shipwreck and announced Friday, June 16th, that nine migrants, all of them Egyptian nationals, have been arrested on charges of people smuggling, Greek newspaper Ekathimerini reports.
According to the newspaper, the nine alleged smugglers, aged between 20 and 40, will testify before an investigating magistrate on Monday at the latest and have been charged by the prosecutor in Kalamata with forming a criminal organisation and participating in migrant trafficking while putting the lives of people at risk.
Greek authorities believe that the fishing vessel initially set sail from Egypt and made a stop in Libya before continuing on to its intended destination, Italy.
The vessel had been spotted by an aeroplane belonging to the European Union border agency Frontex. While ships of the Greek Coast Guard approached the boat, they claim those aboard it refused their help, insisting on continuing toward Italy despite constant phone calls from the Greeks.
It is still unknown how many people were aboard the vessel when it sank. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) claims that as many as 700 to 750 people were on the boat, including as many as 40 children. A similar claim was made earlier this week by the activist network Alarm Phone.
Survivors of the shipwreck, meanwhile, have stated that around 100 children were present and that the boat was overloaded with between 400 to 600 migrants.
Whatever the true number, the reports indicate that hundreds of migrants are missing following the wreck and as time passes, the chances of locating more survivors becomes less and less likely, with retired Greek Coast Guard Admiral Nikos Spanos telling Greek media the chances were “minimal.”
Mohamed Abdi Marwan, a Kurd in Northern Syria, told Greek media that five of his relatives were on the boat and so far, only one, his 29-year-old cousin, is believed to be alive.
“Those smugglers were supposed to only have 500 on the boat and now we hear there were 750. What is this? Are they cattle or humans? How can they do this?” he said.
Marwan also noted that his relatives had paid a high price of at least $6,000 each for the trip. Earlier this year when another boat sank off the coast of Italy, killing at least 67 people, reports noted the migrants paid around €8,000 for the trip.
The exact cause of the sinking of the fishing boat is also unknown but Kriton Arseni, a representative of MeRA25, a left-wing party founded by former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, said that survivors had told him the sinking happened after Greek Coast Guard ships tried to tow the boat.
“Three survivors told us that the incident occurred when the Greek Coast Guard hooked the fishing boat with a rope and was trying to tow it. Then, for no apparent reason, the fishing boat capsized,” he said.
As potentially hundreds of people may be dead as a result of the tragedy, the case could be the largest number of migrant deaths at sea in a single incident since 2014, when a boat with an estimated 500 people sank near Malta, with just 11 migrants surviving the incident.
Activity on the Central Mediterranean migrant route has exploded in the first five months of this year, according to Frontex, which published a report on Friday, June 16th, indicating that activity on the route has increased by 160% compared to the same period last year and that half of all illegal arrivals into the EU come from the route.
So far, over 50,000 migrants have entered Europe through the Central Mediterranean route, and Frontex notes that migratory pressures remain high and expects an increase in smuggling activity in the months ahead.