FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
18 bodies have been pulled from the sea south of Crete, after the discovery of a half-sunken boat carrying migrants.
Preliminary information suggests that the victims may have died from hypothermia.
Two other people were found alive, reports neakriti.gr, but are in critical condition and receiving treatment at Ierapetra Hospital.
The search and rescue operation involves two Coast Guard vessels, a Frontex ship and aircraft, three passing ships, and a Super Puma helicopter. It is not ruled out that there are other missing passengers.
The ship was found this afternoon, 26 miles southwest of Chryssi Island.
The deputy governor of Lassithi, Yiannis Androulakis, told CRETE TV that the migrants appear to come from North Africa.
The mayor of Ierapetra, Manolis Fragoulis, stressed that all the victims are young and the boat was overloaded, which made squeezing the passengers and extracting the bodies extremely difficult, especially due to the bad weather.
The operation to identify the victims and find other survivors continues.
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