Authorities and survivors report that at least 22 migrants have perished off the coast of Greece after spending six terrible days at sea on a cramped rubber boat. The sad event happened in the waters near the southern island of Crete, which is a major gateway for many people trying to cross from North Africa to Europe in dangerous ways.
Survivors said that the Greek coast guard said the boat had been drifting for about a week without food, water, or good navigation after leaving Tobruk in eastern Libya on March 21. People on board lost their way during the trip and couldn’t get to safety.
Frontex, a European border agency, finally found the boat and rescued 26 people, including a lady and a child. Reports say that some of the people who were saved were transferred to a hospital in Heraklion, Crete, for treatment.
Survivors talked about how hard it was to toss the remains of the dead overboard, supposedly under the direction of a suspected smuggler. This shows how desperate and chaotic things were on the floating boat.
The event shows how bad the migrant issue is in the Mediterranean, where hundreds of people risk their lives every year trying to reach Europe in overcrowded, hazardous boats. Even while governments and international organizations are trying to stop them, lethal crossings are still a sad reality for many people who are trying to escape war, poverty, and instability.
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