OMM Newsroom
The bodies of 13 migrants were recovered from a boat near the Greek island of Crete. The coast guard said 18 people were rescued on Monday and four of them were taken to hospital. One of those hospitalised later died.
According to AnewZ, a container ship sailing under the Moroccan flag spotted the boat about 15 nautical miles (28 kilometres) from the port of Kaloi Limenes on Crete’s southern coast. The coast guard brought the survivors and the bodies ashore.
The cause of death was not immediately known. Greek officials said those aboard the boat had been battling strong winds as they tried to reach shore and may have spent several days at sea. “We found the survivors shivering from the cold,” a local coast guard official said on condition of anonymity.
Another coast guard official told Reuters that a young child was among the four taken to hospital. The other rescued people were expected to be transferred to a migrant centre on Crete, the official said.
A further 187 migrants were rescued near Crete in three separate operations on Monday.
Greece has long been a key route into Europe for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. During the 2015–2016 migration crisis, about one million people arrived on Greek islands, most of them via Turkey.
Arrivals in Greece have fallen after authorities tightened controls at sea and along the country’s borders. However, crossings from Libya have increased in recent years, with many people departing on that route from Sudan and Bangladesh.
