At least eighteen people, almost all women, died and around thirty others missing in the sinking of two migrant boats in Greece, caught in strong winds, according to a new report Thursday, October 6 from the coast guard. Greeks.
Dozens of survivors, stranded at the foot of a cliff on the island of Kythera with a stormy sea, had to be hoisted with a winch by the rescuers while others tried desperately to cling to the wall.
In Prague, where he is taking part in the summit of the European political community, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis deplored the “
tragic loss of
human lives” and called for “
cooperation in a much more substantial way
” to avoid these tragedies.
We must "
completely eradicate the smugglers who attack innocent people, desperate people
" who try to reach the European Union on boats that are not in seaworthy condition, he said.
Read alsoIllegal deportations of migrants to Greece: a report overwhelms Frontex
According to an initial report, the bodies of 16 women and a 15-year-old boy apparently of African origin were recovered from the east of the island of Lesbos, neighboring the Turkish coast in the Aegean Sea, after the sinking of their boat, said a spokesman for the coast guard, Nikos Kokkalas, on the public television channel ERT.
The body of an adult man was recovered on Thursday afternoon by divers from the European Border Surveillance Agency (Frontex), bringing the death toll to 18 people, according to the coast guard which is continuing the search at sea. .
Ten women were rescued but a dozen people are missing, he added, adding that around 40 people were on board the boat at the time of the tragedy in the early hours of the day.
“
The women were completely freaked out
,” he described.
A few hours earlier, the authorities had reported missing after the sinking of another boat, a sailboat carrying some 95 people, this time off the island of Kythera, near the Peloponnese peninsula.
Impressive images broadcast by the coast guard showed shipwrecked people at the foot of a cliff on this wild island trying to escape large waves breaking against the rock while the rescuers, posted in the dark at the top of the cliff, hoisting them one by one with a winch.
"Completely destroyed"
Some of the survivors were able to swim to shore, and a massive rescue operation found 80 people.
"
This is the worst possible place on this island
" for a shipwreck, commented the mayor of Kythera, Stratos Harhalakis on ERT, claiming to have seen five bodies.
Seven women and 18 minors are among the survivors, a spokeswoman for the coastguard told AFP, stressing that the sailboat was "
completely destroyed
".
In the Kythera region, winds reached 102 km/h, the coast guard said.
Greece has seen an increase in the number of arrivals of migrants and refugees this year, the majority of whom set sail from the nearby Turkish coasts in an attempt to flee wars and poverty to Europe.
Since January 2022, 64 people have died trying to enter the EU from Turkey, compared to 111 for the whole of 2021, according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Last December, at least 30 people died in three separate shipwrecks in the Aegean Sea.
But precise data is difficult to establish because some bodies are never recovered or are found on the shore weeks later.
Tensions between Athens and Ankara
Athens and Ankara continue to blame each other for these shipwrecks. “
As long as Turkey does not do what is required by international law and the international conventions it has signed, it is mathematically certain that we will mourn victims
” , lambasted government spokesman Yannis Oikonomou.
Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently accused Athens of turning the Aegean Sea into a "
graveyard
" with "
its oppressive policies
".
Athens has been repeatedly singled out by NGOs and the media for its responsibilities in illegal and often violent pushbacks at its sea and land borders.
But the Conservative government has always denied these allegations.
