Over 500 migrants rescued off Crete

Over 500 migrants crammed on a sailing boat were rescued Friday south of the island of Crete on Friday, the Greek coastguard said.

The would-be asylum seekers were rescued by a patrol vessel of EU border agency Frontex near the small island of Gavdos in the Libyan Sea.

The coastguard recor­d­ed nationals from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and the Palestinian territories aboard the boat.

They were first taken to the Cretan city of Rethymno, the coastguard said. Under standard EU procedure, all will undergo health checks before having their asylum claims processed.

The port they had sailed out from was not immediately clear.

Migrants have been trying to reach Crete from Libya for the last year, as a way of entering the European Union.