Large protests in Athens turned violent late Thursday and led to 21 arrests. The rescue operation also created political controversy in Greece as the country heads to a general election on June 25. Greek officials say the vessel capsized minutes after it lost power, speculating that panic among the passengers may have caused the boat to list and roll over. Repeated offers of assistance were rejected in radio communications with the vessel and well as calls made over a loudspeaker, he said.Īlexiou denied reports of survivors saying a patrol boat had tried to tow the fishing boat.Ī judicial investigation is underway into the causes of the sinking. Meanwhile, Greece and other southern EU nations that typically are the first destinations for Europe-bound asylum-seekers traveling by sea have toughened border protection measures in recent years, extending walls and intensifying maritime patrols.Ĭoast guard spokesperson Nikos Alexiou said coast guard and private vessels followed the vessel in international waters before it sank. The EU’s executive commission says the 27-nation bloc is close to an agreement on how member countries can share responsibility in caring for migrants and refugees who undertake the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean. I think it’s time for Europe to be able, in solidarity, to define an effective migration policy for these kinds of situations not to happen again,” Guterres said during a news conference at U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was more pointed in his criticism. “We must do everything possible so that migrants fleeing war and poverty do not meet death while seeking a future of hope.” “I feel great pain at the death of the migrants, including many children, in the shipwreck,” a tweet from Francis’ Twitter account said. Pope Francis, who was discharged from a Rome hospital Friday nine days after undergoing abdominal surgery, urged European governments to do more to protect people who risk their lives while attempting to find better ones. The scale of the disaster put fresh pressure on both the Greek government and the European Union. Rescuers pulled 104 survivors from the water and later recovered 78 bodies but have not located any more since late Wednesday. The Greek coast said the search and rescue operation would be extended beyond the standard 72 hours. migration agency’s Missing Migrants Project tweeted, referring to a vessel that capsized off the coast of Libya, claiming the lives of an estimated 800 migrants. “This could be the second deadliest shipwreck we have ever recorded after the tragic shipwreck of April, 2015 on route to Italy,” the U.N. The International Organization for Migration said as many as 500 passengers may have gone down with the trawler, which was traveling from Libya to Italy. Patrol boats and a helicopter spent a third day scouring the area of the Mediterranean Sea where the packed fishing vessel capsized and sank early Wednesday. By DEREK GATOPOULOS and NICHOLAS PAPHITISĪTHENS, Greece - Greece’s coast guard defended its actions in responding to a ship carrying hundreds of migrants that ended up sinking off the country’s south coast, as criticism mounted Friday over the European Union’s years-long failure to hammer out a comprehensive migration and asylum policy.
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