Overloaded Migrant Boat Sunk Leaving 500 Missing Over 70 Confirm Dead

A fishing boat reportedly set sail from Egypt and stopped in the Tobruk area of eastern Libya before continuing its journey towards Italy.

The boat was travelling around Greece's southern coast on Tuesday afternoon when it was spotted by the EU's Frontex border agency, which flagged it to both Greek and Italian authorities.

It was between 20m and 30m long - and overloaded with people.

Both Greece and Italy are key entry points into the European Union for migrants from the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

The exact number of people on board is disputed.

Greek authorities say the dead were from Egypt, Syria, Pakistan and Palestine.

The deputy mayor of Kalamata said that there were around 550 people on board. But Alarm Phone and the UN's International Organisation for Migration said they believe there were up to 750 people.

Nine men have been arrested after a fishing boat overloaded with migrants sunk off the coast of Greece - killing at least 78 people and leaving hundreds missing.

Greek authorities rescued 104 people from the vessel after it got into distress and sank 45 miles southwest of Peloponnese in the early hours of Wednesday.

Aerial pictures of the boat before it capsized show the deck full of people, with the migrant rescue charity Alarm Phone claiming there could have been up to 750 people on board.

"Up to 500 people... among them large numbers of women are children" are missing, the UN said on Friday, making it one of the deadliest incidents in recent years.

The search operation is ongoing but rescuers fear the chances of finding any more people alive is "really low".

Greek officials say they made repeated offers of assistance, but the boat refused and said it wanted to sail straight on to Italy.

The charity Alarm Phone, which helps save migrants at sea, claims Greek authorities should have launched a rescue mission regardless and were trying to avoid further arrivals.

Over the course of the afternoon Alarm Phone says it received several distress calls from people on the boat.

One around 5pm local time said the "captain left on a small boat" and asked "please, any solution".

The charity says it notified a nearby commercial ship from Malta, the 'Lucky Sailor', which arrived with food and water around 6pm, followed by another boat - 'Faithful Warrior' - at around 9pm.

Distress calls continued to come in to Alarm Phone and just before 2am on Wednesday one reported the boat's engine had failed.

Reports say the vessel, still overwhelmed with people, started veering side to side and capsized shortly after. It sunk completely in around 15 minutes

The coastguard launched a rescue mission with six of its boats, a navy frigate, a military transport place and an air force helicopter. They were helped by several private boats and a Frontex drone.

They brought 104 people to safety at Kalamata - the nearest Greek port - as well as 78 bodies.

Originally they gave a death toll of 79, but it was later revised down.

All 104 people rescued by the coastguard are men.

At a Geneva briefing on Friday, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said among the estimated 500 missing were "large numbers of women and children".

It was feared they were being kept on the lower deck, so became trapped and drowned when the boat overturned.

A reporter for the Greek news channel ANT1 asked one survivor about a claim there were 100 children on board, to which they replied "yes".

Survivors who have spoken to Greek authorities say they paid $4,500 each to be taken to Italy.

Those rescued and taken ashore were treated for hypothermia, dehydration and psychological trauma with 27 still in hospital, Hellenic Red Cross rescue volunteer Giorgio Hatzigeorgiou told Sky News on Friday.

The others have been transferred to an immigration detention centre in Malakasa, central Greece.

Meanwhile, hopes for the rescue operation are dwindling, with Mr Hatzigeorgiou adding: "Right now I don't think the coastguard is searching for survivors - the possibility of finding survivors according to the coastguard is really low.

"This is the first time we engage with such a tragedy with so many people on board - and so many missing persons."