At least 20 migrants have lost their lives in recent days in various shipwrecks that occurred in waters of the Mediterranean off the Greek island of Crete, in the south of the country, according to what the authorities have indicated.
A first shipwreck, recorded on Saturday, left eight migrants dead in the area, as confirmed this Monday by the Greek Coast Guard. The agency has detailed that search and rescue operations began that same Saturday at about 6 nautical miles (about 9.5 kilometers) off the south coast of Crete, where 28 Sudanese-origin migrants were aided alive.
During the night from Sunday to Monday, emergency teams located the vessel, which would have capsized the previous day, and verified the deaths of those eight people who fell into the sea when the boat overturned.
Port authorities have emphasized that search efforts have been seriously complicated in the last day by the adverse weather conditions in the area.
The second incident affects a boat-type vessel that was spotted by a ship in waters near also Crete. The coast guards have managed to rescue 18 people alive and have confirmed the discovery of 12 bodies, according to the information released by the television network ERT.