4 dead, 340 migrants rescued in Mediterranean Sea by Egyptian, Greek coast guards

The bodies of four drowned migrants were recovered from the Mediterranean Sea on Friday, while 340 others were rescued by Egyptian and Greek coast guards. However, many may still be stranded at sea.

The Associated Press reported that the boat transporting hundreds of people was located “half sunk” approximately 140 kilometers south of the Greek island of Crete, in international waters within Egypt’s search and rescue area of operation.

The official webpage of Egypt’s military spokesperson reported on Friday that the Armed Forces’ search and rescue unit received a distress call at 8:30 am indicating that an “illegal migrant boat” was being battered by heavy waves, approximately 265 kilometers northwest of the Egyptian coastal town of Salloum, near the Libyan border.

A rescue plane was deployed, the spokesperson added, along with three naval vessels. According to AP, the Greek coast guard also deployed naval vessels, an airplane and helicopters. Commercial vessels near the site of the migrant boat joined the operation as well.

Nikos Lagadianos, spokesperson for the Greek Coast Guard, told AP that the number of people on board the migrant boat is still unclear. “We’ve heard that there were 400 or 500 people on board, but we cannot confirm that number,” he stated.

“There is a huge rescue effort underway," Lagadianos added.

AP reported that rescued migrants may be taken to Italy, Malta, Egypt, or Turkey, but not Greece. In recent months, Greece — which, along with Italy, recieves more migrant landings from across the Mediterranean than any other country in Europe — has reportedly returned hundreds of migrants crossing the Aegean Sea back into Turkey.

Egypt’s military spokesperson reported that “all military hospitals” along its northern coast have been placed on standby and are “on heightened alert to provide medical assistance” to rescued migrants. In the past, however, Egyptian authorities have arrested and deported dozens of Sudanese migrants attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Egypt into southern Europe.

Similarly, authorities in Italy and other southern European countries have deported many Egyptian migrants crossing the Mediterranean back to Egypt.

Migrants risk their lives and pay exorbitant sums of money to human traffickers in hopes of making the perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea — typically in small boats, which are overloaded and overcrowded.

According to data and figures compiled by the United Nation’s High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR), 205,297 migrants landed in Europe in 2016 after crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Approximately 2,510 have drowned in the past five months alone.

Around 8,000 migrants have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea over the past two and half years, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).