Greek coastguard finds two bodies in migrant tragedy search

ATHENS — Greece’s coastguard on Monday said it had found two bodies during a search for survivors after last week’s tragedy in which at least 78 migrants died in the Ionian Sea.

A coastguard spokeswoman said the bodies “were in a state of decomposition” and their gender could not be immediately identified.

They were found in the sea west of the Peloponnese Peninsula, the area where an overloaded trawler capsized and sank early Wednesday, she told AFP.

Coastguard vessels have not stopped looking for possible survivors. They have so far rescued 104 people from the trawler, which rescuers said was carrying “hundreds” of migrants.

Nine Egyptian men have been detained as suspected smugglers. They will be taken before a magistrate on Tuesday.

The coastguard could not confirm the two bodies belonged to victims of the shipwreck when asked by AFP.

Greece last week declared three days of mourning over the tragedy, which could turn out to be the country’s deadliest at sea, prompting political parties to temporarily suspend their campaign for Sunday’s national elections.

Over the weekend, the conservative party of former prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis removed a police unionist accused of racist remarks towards migrants from its electoral lists.

Spilios Kriketos had told Kontra Channel that “the only certain thing is that our country cannot bear any more migrants... most of them steal every day, and police stations are full [of them]”.

Asked whether the asylum seekers who drowned last week would also have gone on to do the same, he asked: “What did the previous ones, who didn’t drown, do?”

Officials say the migrants had departed from Libya towards Italy.

The survivors are mainly from Syria, Egypt and Pakistan.

The coastguard has faced questions after claiming that it did not rescue the migrants earlier because the trawler was moving at a steady speed, and because someone on board had insisted that no assistance was required.

The BBC over the weekend said that contrary to the coastguard’s report, the trawler had been immobilised for at least seven hours before it capsized.

On Monday, the coastguard insisted that the trawler had sailed for around 30 nautical miles from the time it was spotted to when it sank.

The United Nations has called for in-depth investigations into the migrant boat sinking and urgent action to prevent further tragedies.

The former conservative government of Mitsotakis, in power from 2019 to 2023 and expected to win Sunday’s elections, has followed a strict immigration policy and emphasised “security” and border lockdowns.

Greek media and NGOs have repeatedly accused Greece of carrying out “illegal” expulsions of migrants in the Aegean Sea, a charge rejected by the previous government.