So far, 39 men onboard the boat, mostly from Pakistan, have been rescued by the cargo ships sailing in the area. They have been transferred to the island of Crete, the Greek coastguard said.
The number of missing people has not yet been confirmed, but survivors of the boat said there were dozens of others onboard. These reports have not been confirmed by Greek officials.
Coastguard boats, naval aircraft, merchant vessels and an Italian frigate have been scouring the area since Greek authorities were alerted about the incident on Friday night as the wooden boat approached Europe’s most southerly point of Gavdos.
More than 100 other people were rescued in separate rescue operations south of the island of Crete, the Greek coastguard said. Three operations involved separate incidents off the island of Gavdos and a fourth off the southern Peloponnese region on the southern mainland.
Coastguard officials believe the boats left together from Libya, but this is yet to be confirmed.
In the two other operations off Gavdos, 136 people were rescued. A Malta-flagged cargo ship rescued 47 migrants from a boat around 40 nautical miles from Gavdos, while 89 migrants were rescued around 28 nautical miles off the tiny island in Greece’s south coast.
Another 28 people were rescued off the Peloponnese, with no one reported missing.
The coastguard was supported by navy helicopters and vessels from the European border protection agency Frontex during its overnight search and rescue missions.
From 2015 to 2016, Greece was the favoured gateway to the European Union for people from the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Nearly one million people landed on Greek islands, mostly via inflatable dinghies, in this period.
This year, incidents involving migrant boats and shipwrecks near Crete and Gavdos have increased. The United Nations Refugee agency (UNHCR) estimates that 58,226 men, women and children had arrived in the country by 8 December compared with of 48,720 last year.
In 2023, hundreds of migrants drowned in one of the Mediterranean sea’s deadliest ever disasters, when an overcrowded vessel capsized and sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek coastal town of Pylos.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) confirmed on Sunday that one citizen was among the dead in yesterday’s boat capsize incidents in Greece, while 47 Pakistanis were among the rescued.
At least five migrants drowned after their wooden boat, carrying many Pakistanis, capsized off Greece’s southern island of Gavdos, the coastguard said on Saturday, with witnesses saying many were still missing as search operations continued.
Those rescued had been transferred to the island of Crete, the coastguard said, adding that the number of those missing had not yet been confirmed.
Coastguard boats, merchant vessels, an Italian frigate and naval aircraft have been searching the area since Greek authorities were alerted about the incident on Friday night.
In separate incidents on Saturday, a Malta-flagged cargo vessel rescued 47 migrants from a boat sailing about 40 nautical miles off Gavdos, while a tanker rescued another 88 migrants some 28 nautical miles off the tiny island in Greece’s south.
“At this stage we are unable to confirm the number of deceased or missing Pakistani nationals.” MoFA’s statement on Sunday read.
The Embassy of Pakistan in Athens is in contact with the Hellenic Coast Guard and with the Coast Guard of Chania, which are directly dealing with the search and rescue operation, the statement said.
“The Embassy officials have reached Crete to meet with the rescued Pakistanis and provide them with any assistance required.”
MoFA added that it has activated its Crisis Management Unit (CMU) to facilitate Pakistanis in Greece.
Pakistani nationals in Greece were encouraged to contact the CMU at (051-9207887) or (cmu1@mofa.gov.pk)
Families of missing Pakistanis can contact the Embassy of Pakistan to share details at (+30-6943850188), the statement added.
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed deep sorrow over the loss of life in the incident.
“Human trafficking is a heinous act, people lose their loved ones,” the president was quoted as saying in a post on X by PPP. He also stressed the need to intensify measures to prevent human trafficking.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also expressed regret over the incident and directed that all necessary steps be taken. He also directed Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi to submit an inquiry report as soon as possible, a post on X quoted him as saying.
In a separate post on X, Shehbaz noted that the Pakistan Embassy in Athens is working closely with Greek authorities to ascertain details and provide information to families of the victims, which deputy prime minister Ishaq Dar is overseeing.
He added that the government will make all efforts to bring the rescued Pakistanis back home safely, and “take strict action against those involved in this incident of illegal human trafficking.”
Greece was a favoured gateway to the European Union for migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Africa and Asia in 2015-2016, when nearly 1 million people landed on its islands, mostly via inflatable dinghies.
Incidents with migrant boats and shipwrecks off Crete and its tiny neighbour Gavdos, which are relatively isolated in the central Mediterranean, have increased over the past year.
In June 2023, hundreds of migrants drowned when an overcrowded vessel capsized and sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek coastal town of Pylos. It was one of the deadliest boat disasters ever in the Mediterranean Sea and there were at least 209 Pakistanis on the boat.
In April the same year, Pakistanis among dozens dead as two migrant boats sank in the Mediterranean off different towns in western Libya.
Earlier in February, Pakistanis were among 59 people killed when a wooden sailing boat carrying migrants crashed against rocks on the southern Italian coast.