ATHENS: Five Migrants Dead as Boat Capsizes Near Greece’s Gavdos Island
At least five migrants lost their lives after a wooden boat capsized near the southern Greek island of Gavdos, the coastguard reported on Saturday. Many are still unaccounted for as search and rescue operations continue.
So far, 39 men, mostly from Pakistan, have been rescued by cargo ships in the area. They have been transferred to the island of Crete, while the exact number of missing individuals remains unclear, according to the coastguard.
The search efforts involve coastguard vessels, merchant ships, an Italian frigate, and naval aircraft, which were mobilized after Greek authorities received an alert about the incident on Friday night.
Separate Rescues in the Same Region
In other incidents on Saturday, a Malta-flagged cargo ship rescued 47 migrants from a boat located approximately 40 nautical miles off Gavdos. Meanwhile, a tanker saved 88 migrants from another boat about 28 nautical miles off the same island.
Preliminary reports suggest the boats departed together from Libya, the coastguard revealed.
A Gateway for Migrants
Greece has long been a key entry point to the European Union for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. The 2015–2016 period saw nearly one million people arriving on its islands, primarily via inflatable dinghies.
Read More: Greece navy deliberately sank our migrant boat, says Pakistani survivor
Shipwrecks and migrant boat incidents near Crete and Gavdos, relatively remote areas in the central Mediterranean, have become increasingly frequent over the past year.
In 2023, one of the deadliest Mediterranean boat disasters occurred off the southwestern Greek coastal town of Pylos, when an overcrowded vessel sank in international waters, claiming hundreds of lives.
