Seventeen migrants lost their lives inside a partially submerged dinghy located 36 nautical miles southwest of Ierapetra, Crete, on Saturday afternoon. The dinghy was spotted by a Turkish-flagged cargo ship that informed authorities.
Two Coast Guard patrol boats, a Frontex vessel, three passing ships, a Super Puma helicopter, and a Frontex aircraft were mobilized to the scene.
The crew of the Coast Guard vessel rescued two Egyptian nationals, aged 16 and 20 years old, who were taken to the General Hospital of Ierapetra with hypothermia, starvation, and dehydration, the Coast Guard said. The two men were found on the part of the dinghy outside the water.
The 17 young men, aged 16 to 30, were found dead in the half-sunken dinghy that had deflated on one side.
It is estimated that they were of Sudanese and Egyption origin and their journey had begun before last Wednesday along with the 6 dinghies that had reached the coast of South Crete before the Byron storm. that hit the country with torrential rainfalls also in the sea south of Crete with high waves and stormy winds
For unknown reasons, the dinghy had lost its engine, while the passengers had no way to send an SOS to the Greek Authorities, local neakriti.gr reported.
The bodies were transferred to the University General Hospital of Heraklion. The Port Authority of Ierapetra has launched a preliminary investigation and ordered an autopsy to be conducted by the Laboratory of Medical Sciences at the University of Crete.
