Two shipwrecks that happened this Thursday (06) in the Aegean Sea, in Greece, left at least 22 dead, including 16 women and a minor, in addition to dozens of people missing.
In the east of the island of Lesbos, a vessel carrying 40 people, apparently African women and minors, sank in strong winds.
According to the most recent balance sheet, so far, the Greek coast guard has recovered 17 bodies.
Coast Guard spokesman Nikos Kokkalas told local television station ERT that they were young people, mostly of African origin, who departed on the vessel off the coast of Turkey.
Authorities were unable to identify the countries of origin, as the rescued people were in a state of shock, having difficulty communicating.
The search continues on Lesbos and on the island of Kythera, where a small boat with about a hundred migrants crashed into rocks.
So far, rescue teams have managed to rescue 80 people who had tied themselves to the rocks with ropes thrown by Coast Guard agents.
Of all those pulled from the water, 18 are minors, seven are women and 55 are men, according to authorities. In all, 11 people remain hospitalized.
According to testimonies of those rescued, about 100 people were on board the vessel, mainly from Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Kokkalas.
Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarakis urged Turkey to act “immediately” to prevent further irregular departures from the country’s coast, especially given the current difficult weather conditions.
Twitter, the member of the Greek government even called the European Union (EU) to “act” in the situation.
Greek Minister of Maritime Transport and Island Policy Yannis Plakiotakis was more direct and blamed Ankara for the shipwrecks.
“Once again, Turkey’s tolerance of unscrupulous drug traffickers has cost human lives,” he lamented.
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