So far, 104 people who were aboard the fishing boat traveling from Libya to Italy have been rescued, but authorities fear that many more may have been trapped below deck.
By DEREK GATOPOULOS and NICHOLAS PAPHITIS
The U.N. migration agency, known as IOM, estimated that the vessel was carrying 700 to 750 people, including at least 40 children, based on interviews with survivors. Those rescued were mostly men and included Egyptians, Syrians, Pakistanis, Afghans and Palestinians, Greek officials said. Mohamed Abdi Marwan, who spoke by phone from Kobani, a Kurdish majority town in northeastern Syria, said that five of his relatives were on the boat, including one who 14 years old. Marwan said he’s heard nothing about his relatives since the vessel sank. He believes his nephew Ali Sheikhi, 29, is alive, after family members spotted him in photos of survivors, but Marwan said friends are still making their way to the makeshift camp in Greece to confirm.
The Greek Coast Guard said that it was notified of the boat’s presence late Tuesday morning, and observed by helicopter that it was “sailing on a steady course” at 6 p.m. Alarm Phone, a network of activists that provides a hotline for migrants in trouble, said that the trouble began much earlier in the day. The network said it was contacted by people on the vessel asking for help shortly after 3 p.m., who said “they cannot survive the night.”
Overcrowding, a lack of life vests, or the absence of a captain would have all been reasons to intervene, Alessandro said.
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