Twelve migrants are found dead on Monday, November 9, in their boat off the southern coast of Crete, the Greek coast guard announces. Eighteen survivors are on board the same boat, their press office specifies.
The figures released change from one announcement to the next. On Sunday, the coast guard speaks of twenty-eight people rescued and a first body; the next day, they count twelve dead and eighteen survivors on board.
This toll is in addition to eight other deaths reported in a second boat, in the same area. Twenty people seeking asylum in the European Union are thus found lifeless off the island.
The authorities report these eight deaths a little earlier. The bodies are discovered during a search-and-rescue operation begun on Saturday.
Crete remains one of the main entry points for migrants into the European Union. The violent winds described by the coast guard make towing the Sudanese boat impracticable.
On the other boat, the coast guard announces on Sunday the rescue of twenty-eight people of Sudanese nationality and the discovery of a first body.
Public information does not link this shipwreck to the two boats found since Saturday south of Crete.
Already on Wednesday, the Greek port police is trying to find fifty-nine migrants reported missing after a shipwreck. These searches are based on the statements of a survivor, a 23-year-old Bangladeshi.