Migrant Boat Docks In Crete After Dramatic Rescue

Muhammad Irfan Published November 22, 2022 | 09:07 PM

A rusty fishing boat carrying around 500 migrants docked at the Greek island of Crete on Tuesday after being dramatically rescued during near gale-force winds

Palaiochora, Greece, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Nov, 2022 ) :A rusty fishing boat carrying around 500 migrants docked at the Greek island of Crete on Tuesday after being dramatically rescued during near gale-force winds.

An AFP photographer saw the banged-up vessel crammed with men, some of whom peered from holes cut into the hull, apparently to keep those in the hold from suffocating.

Hellenic Red Cross rescuers and health workers readied to help the passengers disembark and take them to the nearest hospital after the boat reached the small Cretan coastal town of Palaiochora.

"Approximately 500 migrants" were on board, tweeted Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi.

"I will be asking the European Commission to activate relocations to other member states as part of EU solidarity," the minister said.

State television ERT said the boat carried mostly asylum seekers from Egypt and Syria. A hundred children on board were allowed to disembark first for medical tests, it said.

The Greek coastguard said the migrants were safe and that the fishing boat had sent a distress call after midnight on Monday whilst sailing south of Crete.