A fishing boat carrying an estimated 700 migrants capsized off the coast of Greece on Wednesday, killing at least 78 people and leaving dozens missing. The boat, which was reportedly carrying mostly Pakistanis and Egyptians, was spotted by a surveillance plane from Europe’s Frontex agency on Tuesday afternoon. Greece coastguard and government officials said their patrol boats and nearby cargo ships had been shadowing the boat since then, but that it had refused help when they offered it.
The boat capsized at around 2:19 am Greece time on Wednesday, after it had notified Athens of engine failure. Twenty-four minutes later, the Greece patrol boat skipper radioed in that the boat had capsized. At least 104 people were rescued, including 12 Pakistanis. However, dozens of others are still missing, and the death toll is expected to rise.
The exact number of people on board the boat is still unknown, but Greece officials have cited unconfirmed reports saying that the total number of people might be around 750. One survivor told doctors in Kalamata that he had seen 100 children in the boat’s hold. Police have arrested nine Egyptians on suspicion of people smuggling, including the captain of the boat. The tragedy has sparked calls for the world to address the gaps in search and rescue rules in the Mediterranean Sea. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Human Rights Office have urged the world to “investigate people smugglers and human traffickers and ensure they are brought to justice”.
Pakistanis from Azad Kashmir feared to be among the missing
Several Pakistanis from different areas of Azad Kashmir are feared to be among the deceased or missing after the fishing boat capsized off Greece. Muhammad Mubashir from the Kotli area of Azad Kashmir told BBC Urdu that his uncle and a close relative left for Italy after Ramazan.
He added that a number of people from the Kel sector in Kotli left in recent months in hopes of reaching Europe. A British-Pakistani journalist, Raja Faryad Khan, told BBC that 16 people from his village in Azad Kashmir could have been on the boat. Mr. Khan traveled from the UK to the Greek port city of Kalamata to meet his 22-year-old nephew Adnan Bashir, who was one of the survivors. Another man from Kotli, Maqsood Langrial, told BBC that his five close relatives and two dozen other people from his area are feared to be on the boat. He said two men from his village who survived the crash have said that around 30 people from the area were on board. The exact number of people aboard the boat is still unknown, but Greek officials have cited unconfirmed reports saying that the total number of people might be around 750.
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Emotional reunion as Syrian teenager is reunited with brother
Amid despair and pain, a Syrian teenager who survived the wreck was emotionally reunited with his elder brother on Friday. Mohammad, 18, from Syria, burst into sobs as he spotted his elder brother Fadi, who had traveled from the Netherlands searching for him. They wept and hugged through metal barricades, erected by Greek police around a warehouse in Kalamata where survivors had been sleeping for the past two days.
The search for survivors continues
The search for survivors of the fishing boat tragedy continues, but hopes are fading. The Greece coastguard has been searching the area around the shipwreck, but so far they have only found a handful of bodies. The exact number of people who are still missing is unknown, but it is thought to be in the hundreds. The tragedy has once again highlighted the dangers of people smuggling in the Mediterranean Sea. Thousands of people have died trying to reach Europe in recent years, and the number of deaths is only likely to increase as the weather gets warmer.
