A tragic incident involving migrants occurred in the early hours of Saturday south of Greece’s Gavdos island after a boat sank.
The devastating incident was recorded to have taken place approximately twelve nautical miles southwest of Gavdos, where around forty more individuals have been reported missing.
Two vessels of the Greek Coast Guard, along with a helicopter from the Hellenic Air Force (HAF) and another helicopter from the Hellenic Navy, have rushed to the area to rescue as many individuals as possible.
Thus far, the bodies of five individuals have been retrieved. Fortunately, at least 39 more people have been rescued by Greek authorities and been transferred to Palaeochora on the island of Crete.
The ICU unit of Chania Hospital on Crete is treating another individual who suffers from symptoms of drowning.
More vessels with migrants spotted south of Gavdos, Greece
In addition to the vessel that sank, another one was found approximately 40 nautical miles south of Gavdos. All 47 migrants on board were rescued by the Greek authorities.
A third boat was found 28 nautical miles south of Gavdos, as well, with a total of 40 migrants on board. A separate rescue operation is underway to save them.
Gavdos not the first incident of a migrant boat sinking in Greece
Only a few weeks ago, four migrants, including two children and two women, had died after their boat sank off the northeastern coast of Samos in the Aegean Sea.
This was another migrant boat disaster in the Mediterranean that occurred just days after another eight people, six children and two women, had died in the same coastal area off Samos, Greece. The Greek Coastguard had reported that 40 people were rescued, with an estimated 50 individuals being on board the vessel.
Gavdos under pressure
Gavdos is Greece’s southernmost island and Europe’s southernmost point. This geographical proximity to the turbulent areas of Sub-Saharan Africa have turned Gavdos, along with the south of Italy, into hotspots for illegal migrant routes that smugglers like to exploit.
Thousands of desperate people from a large number of countries pay thousands of euros to get on dinghies, without any guarantees of safety, beginning the perilous journey towards Europe in a quest for a better future for themselves and their families.
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