At least 17 people attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea were found dead on Saturday after a boat capsized south of the island of Crete, Greek authorities said.
“Two survivors have been hospitalized in serious condition,” a coast guard spokesman told AFP news agency.
Survivors told rescue workers that they had lost control of the ship during a severe storm, leaving those on board stranded in the open ocean without water, food or proper shelter.
According to local reports, the Coast Guard said that by the time the boat was located, the migrants were dead.
What else do we know about boat capsizing?
Greek officials said the ship was found 26 nautical miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Crete.
The boat was initially detected by a Turkish cargo ship, which alerted Greek authorities.
“The ship carrying migrants was blown out of two sides, forcing passengers into confined spaces,” said Manolis Frangoulis, mayor of the Cretan port city of Ierapetra.
He said all the victims were young. It is still not clear where the migrants came from.
Greek state television channel ERT reported that the coroner was investigating whether dehydration could have been a cause of the deaths.
The number of migrants reaching Greece from Libya is increasing
During the 2015–2016 migrant crisis, Greece served as a major entry point when more than one million people entered Europe from the Middle East and Africa.
Although numbers have declined, over the past year, migrants departing Libya on a large scale have increasingly turned to Crete, Gavdos and Chrissi, the three Aegean islands closest to Africa.
In July, the conservative government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis suspended asylum hearings for migrants, particularly targeting those coming to Crete from Libya.
Edited by: Dmytro Lyubenko