According to the coast guard, at least 16 refugees were killed when their boat was wrecked off the Greek island of Paros. The incident occurred on Friday in the middle of the Aegean Sea, it was the third of its kind this week. The authorities had started a search northwest of Paros, the coast guard announced on Saturday.
According to media reports, the bodies of twelve men, three women and a child were recovered. It is believed that there were a total of 80 people on the boat. According to the coast guard, it was en route from Turkey to Italy. How the shipwreck came about was initially unclear.
The Greek authorities had previously announced that eleven bodies had been recovered after the shipwreck of another refugee boat. 90 people were rescued after their sailing boat sank in front of an uninhabited island near the southern Greek island of Antikythera on Thursday. According to initial information, this boat was also on the way to Italy, said the coast guard. On Wednesday night, a boat sank off the island of Folegandros, which is believed to have up to 50 people on board. Dozens were still missing.
The Greek shipping minister Giannis Plakiotakis said that tug gangs were responsible for the disasters. They don’t care about people’s lives. They forced dozens of people without life jackets into boats that didn’t even meet basic safety standards.
Numerous people from Africa, the Middle East and other regions are trying to reach the European Union via Greece. However, there are not as many as in 2015 and 2016, when more than a million people crossed Greece on their way to other EU countries.