- Tragedy in the Mediterranean: Overcrowded Vessel Capsizes
- Horrific Conditions and Psychological Trauma
- Questions Raised: Rescue Efforts and Accountability
The 104 males rescued from the water have been moved to an immigration center in central Greece.
The United Nations estimates that up to 500 persons are missing after an overcrowded fishing vessel carrying migrants capsized in the Mediterranean Sea.
The ship sank 45 miles off Greece early Wednesday morning, killing 78 people.
A spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated at a briefing in Geneva on Friday, “The high commissioner expressed his condolences to those who have lost loved ones – 78 people are known to have been killed and up to 500 are missing, including a large number of women and children.”
Authorities in Greece have also verified the recovery of 78 bodies and the rescue of 104 men.
Alarm Phone, which received multiple distress messages from the vessel, estimated that there were approximately 750 people on board.
No women or children have been rescued to date, and many fear that they were confined on the lower deck and dragged into the water when the ship sank.
Some disaster reports describe unbelievably awful conditions aboard.
A Greek social worker who cared for some of the survivors told that she had heard that the boat ran out of water days before it sank. Forcing passengers to consume their urine and drink from melting refrigerators.
Many of them are experiencing severe psychological trauma.
She recalled a survivor who told her that he “swam for two hours surrounded by the bodies of children” and a man in his twenties who “wanted to commit suicide, wanted to jump into the sea and kill himself because he couldn’t take it anymore.”
Not anticipating additional survivors
The survivors were also relocated to an immigration center in the capital of Greece. The warehouse where they stayed is currently being cleansed, and the aid agencies have vacated.
They do not anticipate any additional survivors.
The media is now questioning if the Hellenic Coast Guard office in Kalamata might have prevented the disaster.
An unidentified source told a Greek newspaper that the boat was roped three hours before it sank.
There are also questions about why nothing was done to rescue at least some of the passengers when it was evident that the boat was perilously overcrowded with migrants and, therefore, almost certainly human traffickers as well.
Because the vessel was in international waters, the coast guard has previously stated that its actions were by international law.
