79 dead and dozens feared missing after boat carrying refugees and migrants sinks off Greek coast

More than 100 people have also been rescued as search efforts continue

At least 79 people have died and dozens are feared missing off the coast of Greece after a fishing boat carrying migrants capsized and sank.

Authorities said 104 people have been rescued following the nighttime incident in international waters some 72km (45 miles) southwest of Greece's southern Peloponnese region. The spot is close to one of the deepest areas of the Mediterranean Sea.

It was unclear how many passengers might still be in the water or trapped in the sunken vessel, but some initial reports suggested hundreds of people may have been on board.

The Greek coast guard said 79 bodies have been recovered so far. It said the survivors included 30 people from Egypt, 10 from Pakistan, 35 from Syria and 2 Palestinians.

Twenty-five survivors were taken to hospital with symptoms of hypothermia. At the southern port of Kalamata, around 70 exhausted survivors bedded down in sleeping bags and blankets provided by rescuers in a large warehouse, while outside paramedics set up tents for anyone who needed first aid.

Katerina Tsata, head of a Red Cross volunteer group in Kalamata, said the migrants were also given psychological support. "They suffered a very heavy blow, both physical and mental," she said.

Six coast guard vessels, a navy frigate, a military transport plane, an air force helicopter, several private vessels and a drone from the European Union border protection agency, Frontex, were taking part in the ongoing search.

The United Nations migration agency, IOM, said initial reports suggested up to 400 people were on board. A network of activists said it received a distress call from a boat in the same area whose passengers said 750 people were on board, but it was not clear if that was the vessel that sank.

“It is not safe to give a number. We do not know how many people were in the hold,” coast guard spokesperson Nikos Alexiou told Greece’s MEGA TV. “There were too many people on the outer deck. It was full.”

Survivors arrive at the port in Kalamata (www.argolikeseidhseis.gr via AP)

The Greek president, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, visited the area where rescued migrants are being tended to, and political parties called off planned campaign events ahead of national elections later this month.

The Italy-bound boat is believed to have sailed from the Tobruk area in eastern Libya. The Italian coast guard first alerted Greek authorities and Frontex about the approaching vessel on Tuesday.

After that first alert, Frontex aircraft and two merchant ships spotted the boat heading north at high speed, according to the Greek coast guard. More aircraft and ships were sent to the area. But repeated calls to the vessel offering help were declined, the coast guard said in a statement.

"In the afternoon a merchant vessel approached the ship and provided it with food and supplies, while the [passengers] refused any further assistance," it said. A second merchant ship that approached it later offered further supplies and assistance, which were turned down, it added.

In the evening, a coast guard patrol boat reached the vessel “and confirmed the presence of a large number of migrants on the deck”, the statement said. “But they refused any assistance and said they wanted to continue to Italy.” The coast guard boat accompanied the vessel, which, the statement said, capsized and sank early Wednesday, prompting a massive rescue operation by all the ships in the area.

Alarm Phone, a network of activists that provides a hotline for refugees and migrants in trouble, meanwhile, said it was contacted by people on a boat in distress on Tuesday afternoon. That boat was in the same general area as the one that sank, but it was not clear if it was the same vessel.

The organisation notified Greek authorities and Frontex. In one communication with Alarm Phone, those on the vessel reported that it was overcrowded and that the captain had abandoned the ship on a small boat, according to the group. They asked for food and water, which was provided by a merchant ship.

Libyan authorities have launched a major crackdown on migrants earlier this month across eastern Libya. Activists have said several thousand migrants, including Egyptians, Syrians, Sudanese and Pakistanis, have been detained. Libyan authorities deported many Egyptians to their home country through a land crossing point.

In western Libya, authorities have raided migrant hubs in the capital, Tripoli, and other towns over the past few weeks. At least 1,800 migrants were detained and taken to government-run detention centers, according to the UN refugee agency.

Mediterranean smugglers are increasingly taking larger boats into international waters off the Greek mainland to try to avoid local coast guard patrols. On Sunday, 90 migrants on a US-flagged yacht were rescued in the area after they made a distress call. Separately, on Wednesday, a yacht with 81 migrants on board was towed to a port on the south coast of Greece's island of Crete after authorities received a distress call.

Greece is one of the main routes into the European Union for refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Asia and Africa. Most cross to Greek islands from nearby Turkey, but a growing number of boats also undertake a longer, and more dangerous journey from Turkey to Italy via Greece.

About 72,000 refugees and migrants have arrived so far this years in Europe's frontline countries Italy, Spain, Greece, Malta and Cyprus, according to United Nations data, with the majority landing in Italy.

Associated Press