Related News
Greek ship tows 700 migrants to safety
A GREEK frigate has towed a disabled cargo ship packed with 700 migrants to safety just off the island of Crete yesterday, in one of the biggest sea rescues mounted by the Mediterranean nation, coast guard officials said.
The Kiribati-flagged MV Baris issued a distress call on Tuesday after developing engine problems 45 kilometers southeast of Crete.
A Greek frigate dispatched to the scene spent over 24 hours fighting off strong winds and waves to tow the ship close to the southeastern port of Ierapetra, where boats had begun transferring migrants to the town.
“The coastguard has been fighting waves since yesterday in a huge rescue operation for 700 souls in very tough conditions,” Shipping Minister Miltiadis Varvitsiotis told parliament.
Doctors earlier boarded the ship to examine the migrants, who included about 200 women and children.
Most of the migrants were believed to be from Afghanistan and Syria.
Greece is a popular entry point into Europe for thousands of undocumented migrants from Asia and Africa.
In September, Athens warned that it was slipping into a “danger zone” without adequate funds or resources to handle a fast-growing wave of refugees from war-torn nations like Syria and Iraq.
Earlier this week, Pope Francis told Europe’s leaders to do more to help thousands of migrants risking their lives trying to get into the continent, saying they had to stop the Mediterranean becoming “a vast cemetery.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
- RSS
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证:沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证:31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证:0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证:沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证:沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.