Shipwreck in Greece: About 100 children were on the sunken ship with hundreds of migrants on board, according to survivors’ testimonies

Survivors of the tragic capsizing of a migrant-laden fishing boat off the coast of southern Greece say there could be as many as 100 children on the sunken ship.

78 deaths have already been confirmed in this event, but there are believed to be many more, as some reports suggest could carry 750 people on board.

Between 11 and 12 suspects have been arrested at Kalamata Port Authority for human smuggling activities, Greek public broadcaster ERT reported.

The country’s coastguard was criticized for not intervening sooner, but authorities claimed so their offer of help was refused.

Rescue workers are still exploring the waters off Greece as hopes of finding more survivors dwindle.

Children

Doctors who treated the survivors – mostly men – spread shocking stories of women and children traveling in the ship’s hold.

The fishing boat was reportedly en route from Libya to Italy when it capsized.

The head doctor at Kalamata General Hospital, who treated survivors of Wednesday’s shipwreck, told the BBC that there were up to 100 children on the ship.

Dr. Manolis Makaris, head of cardiology, said: “They (the survivors) told us that there were children in the bottom of the ship. children and women”.

He explained that two patients had given him estimates.

“One told me about 100 kids, the other about 50, so I don’t know the real number, but it’s a lot,” he added.

Makaris assured that, according to his estimation, up to 600 people could have died at the disaster.

“The exact number of people traveling on the boat was 750. This is the exact number everyone told me,” he said.

So far, only 104 have been rescued alive.

The doctor said that the families of some of the missing Egyptian children had sent him photos of them in case he recognized them during treatment.

“It was a tragedy,” he exclaimed. “No one in Europe should accept this situation. We all need to do something so it doesn’t happen again.”

A reporter from the Greek channel ANT1 asked a survivor if there were 100 children on board, to which he replied in the affirmative.

The Save the Children charity also gave the same number, citing survivor testimonies. The BBC has not been able to independently verify this information.

“They locked people up”

Greek government spokesman Ilias Siakantaris cited unconfirmed reports and estimated that up to 750 people were on the ship.

“We don’t know what was in the warehouse, but we do know there are several traffickers locked people up to maintain control”, he told public broadcaster ERT.

The families of some of the missing went to Kalamata to look for their loved ones.

“My relatives were on the boat,” said Aftab, who had come over from the UK in hopes of finding four of his missing Pakistani relatives.

“We have found one of the relatives in the shelter, but the others have not yet,” he told the BBC.

A Syrian man from the Netherlands was devastated when he learned that his wife and brother-in-law were missing.

First drafts of what happened

The ship sank about 50 miles southwest of Pylos, the Greek coastguard said.

According to the Coast Guard’s schedule, first contact was made with the fishing boat the day before at 2:00 pm local time (11:00 am GMT), and the fishing boat did not send any requests for assistance.

The Coast Guard explained that Greek shipping authorities repeatedly contacted the ship and replied that it simply wanted to sail to Italy.

That says a spokesman for the Coast Guard to ERT the ship’s engine failed in the early hours of Wednesday, people on board agitated and the boat capsized. I confirm that all the saved are men.

Alarm Phone, an emergency helpline for migrants in distress at sea, received its first call from the ship in distress on Tuesday, just over an hour after the Coast Guard made initial contact.

Activist Nawal Soufi was the first to raise the alarm after people on the ship contacted her on Tuesday morning.

In a Facebook post, Soufi says that the situation then became “complicated”. a lifeboat approached the boat and tied a rope to him while throwing bottles of water.

According to the activist, some on board felt in “extreme danger” for fear that the rope could destabilize the boat and the fighting on board across the water could have led to capsize. The rescue ship then departed.

Alarm Phone denounced that the Coast Guard “knew the ship was in danger for hours before sending help” and added that authorities had been “informed by various sources” of the ship’s situation.

Coastal watchman Nikos Alexiou, however, said they tried to convince the boat to seek help and offered assistance.

Former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras visited Kalamata on Thursday and spoke to the survivors, who explained their theory of how they believed the ship had sunk.

“The Greek Coast Guard asked the boat to follow them, but (the crew) could not. The Coast Guard then threw down a rope, but because they didn’t know how to pull it, the boat started to swing from right to left,” a survivor told News247.

“The Coast Guard boat is going too fast, but our boat was already to the left and that’s how he sank it.”

Greece, mourn

Greece declared three days of mourning, suspended campaigning for parliamentary elections on June 25 and canceled a televised debate scheduled for Thursday.

The country is one of the main gateways to the European Union for refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

Last month, the Greek government came under fire from the international community over a video allegedly showing the forced displacement of migrants at sea.