Greek authorities arrested nine suspected Egyptian traffickersafter the tragic capsizing of a boatload of migrants, port sources told AFP on Thursday.

Among the detainees is the captain of the old ship, which tipped over before sinking in an accident that left nearly 80 dead and hundreds missing.

According to the same source The fishing boat had left Egypt without passengers on its way to Tubruk, a town in eastern Libya, to take the migrants on board and continue their journey to Italy.

At least 78 migrants killed in shipwreck near Greece

The arrests were made in Kalamata, the port on the Peloponnese peninsula where shipwreck survivors were sent, for alleged “illegal trafficking in human beings”, the Greek news agency ANA reported.

So far, 78 bodies have been recovered from the waterbut the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it “fears that hundreds of people” have died in “one of the most devastating Mediterranean tragedies in a decade”.

Greek government spokesman Ilias Siakantaris said on Wednesday that there were about 750 people on board the ship, according to unconfirmed reports..