Greece is looking for migrant shipwreck survivors, with at least 78 dead. As hopes of finding survivors of a shipwreck that killed at least 78 migrants in one of Europe's deadliest such disasters in recent years dwindled, rescuers conducted a massive search operation on Thursday off Greece.




Thursday morning, a coast guard vessel moved the victims to the nearby port city of Kalamata as dawn broke. Authorities revised the death toll from 79 to 78 following an official count. According to them, 104 people were saved.


They said it wasn't clear how many people were on board, but they were looking into a report from a European rescue charity that said as many as 750 people were on the boat, which was between 65 and 100 feet long and 20 to 30 meters long.


Initial reports, according to the UN's International Organization for Migration, suggested that up to 400 people were aboard.


News entrances Proto Thema and Skai television announced that, as per witnesses, predominantly ladies and youngsters were in the vessel's hold.


According to government officials, the migrants traveling on the boat from the Libyan port of Tobruk had repeatedly rejected assistance requests from Greek authorities.


Coast Guard spokesperson Nikos Alexiou stated to Skai TV, "It was a fishing boat packed with people who refused our assistance because they wanted to go to Italy."



According to government sources, the search would continue until at least Friday morning. No engine, no captain They claimed that due to the fact that the region of international waters where the incident occurred is one of the deepest in the Mediterranean.


The Greek coast guard took aerial photos of the boat's upper and lower decks hours before it sank, showing dozens of people looking up, some with arms outstretched.


It claimed that the captain had fled on a small boat, that it had informed Greek authorities, that it had spoken to people on the vessel, who estimated that up to 750 people were aboard and that it had asked for assistance.




According to government officials, the vessel's engine stopped and it started veering from side to side before capsizing and sinking around 2 a.m. on Wednesday.


Authorities have built walled camps, increased border controls, and take a tougher stance on migration under a conservative government in power until last month.


Greece's guardian organization, in power between an uncertain political race on May 21 and new decisions on June 25, proclaimed three days of public grieving.


Since an uprising in 2011 that was supported by NATO and had little stability or security, Libya is a major starting point for people who want to travel by sea to Europe.


The majority of networks for people smuggling are run by military groups that control coastal areas.


Since 2014, the central Mediterranean has seen more than 20,000 deaths and disappearances, making it the world's most dangerous route for migrants.