At least 79 people died after a migrant boat carrying hundreds of people sank off the Greek coast in the early hours of Wednesday, that country’s Coast Guard said.
A total of 104 migrants who were traveling on the boat have since been rescued from the water and transferred to the city of Kalamata. The coast guard said the search and rescue operation will stop once it’s dark in the area and will continue with the first light of day tomorrow.
It is unclear how many people were on board the ship when it went under. Survivors say there could have been as many as 750 passengers.
“We fear that the number of dead will rise significantly,” a spokesperson for Peloponnese prefect Panagiotis Nikas said.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) earlier tweeted that it believed that there were “up to 400 people” onboard.
UN chief Antonio Guterres referred to the shipwreck as “horrific” in a post on Twitter, adding: “As I’ve said before - every person searching for a better life deserves safety dignity.”
State broadcaster ERT, citing initial information from authorities, said the boat had sailed from Tobruk, in Libya.
The NGO Alarm Phone said it first received a call from the boat Tuesday afternoon and that it was “difficult to communicate with the distressed,” who said that they could not survive the night.
Those on board said the captain left the vessel three hours after the first distress call was made and passengers were in need of food and water, accoring to Alarm Phone.
A merchant vessel is said to have provided the boat with water at around 8pm local time on Tuesday evening.